Context

Our lesson this morning is going to come mainly from two places in scripture, the book of Malachi (the last book of the Old Testament) and a passage in Revelation chapter 3. The words of Malachi were addressed to the Jews in the land of Judah and Jerusalem after they had returned from Babylonian exile, a temple had been rebuilt and worship at the temple was underway once again. The passage in Revelation is words of Jesus to a church toward the end of the first century A.D., the church at Laodicea. The Jews of Malachi’s day and the church at Laodicea fell into the same spiritual condition, which is still a very common condition today.

Jesus described it as being…

Neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm.

Cold I think would refer to someone who makes no attempt at a relationship with God. Never comes to church, never prays, never picks up a Bible, has no concern about doing God’s will in his life.

Hot is the other end of the spectrum. It’s somebody who is zealous for God, passionate, on fire for the Lord. In fact the word “hot” and the word “zealous” in the New Testament come from the same root word in the Greek language that the NT was originally written in. So hot is when the most important thing in the world is pleasing God, knowing Him better, deepening your relationship with Him and working with Him in the world to save souls and build up His church. When that’s what you think about constantly and center your life around. And everything else in comparison (the size of your bank account, the look of your yard, how your fantasy football team is doing, what the fellas at work think about you, and so forth) is rather insignificant to you. Or as Paul put in Philippians 3, “I count all things to be loss and rubbish compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Hot is when you get it, you realize how valuable it is to have Christ and to please Him and to be closer to Him. You are all in. You’re sold out, you wake up to serve Him everyday.

Lukewarm is in between. Lukewarm is when you care some about your relationship with God, so you may attend some church, send up prayers here and there, give a bit and avoid committing really terrible sins. You put in a little effort for God, however much you think is enough to get by with Him. But making money and looking good and pleasing people and hobbies and other earthly things are equally important to you. God has a lot of competition in your heart. So when you’ve done your Sunday thing for God, then you’re mainly on to the other things you want the rest of the week. God is often not the focal point in your life. You’re probably not real open about your faith among your colleagues. You don’t go out of your way to share Christ with people. You’re not looking to serve. You’re not prioritizing people. You think more about what you have in this earthly life than what you have in eternity. You focus more on what is seen with your eyes than on what is unseen.

Well, the Jews in Malachi’s day were not cold. They were putting in some effort for God. They were bringing offerings to God at the temple. And they weren’t worshiping pagan idols or gods. They had learned their lesson about that from the Babylonian exile. But neither were they hot. They were trying to get by as cheaply and conveniently as they could in their offerings. You read in chapter 1 that many of them instead of bringing good healthy animals from their flocks and herds for sacrifice, they’d pick out the blind, sick and crippled ones, the ones they didn’t want anyway to offer to God (Malachi 1:8). In chapter 3 you read they weren’t giving a full tithe as they were commanded in the Law of Moses (Malachi 3:8-10). They were trying to get by with the minimum. The priests at the temple were just as lukewarm, apathetic about worship and serving God. Chapter 1 tells us they were grumbling about their work at the temple, “Ugh, I’m so tired of offering these sacrifices. This is a nasty stinking tedious job…” (Malachi 1:7,12,13). They didn’t really care that the people were bringing lame offerings to the Lord. They didn’t really care that people were disobeying in their daily lives, just so long as they were continuing to make a living as priests. In chapter 2 you find they would teach the people basically just stuff they wanted to hear. They weren’t addressing sin or calling people to repentance (Malachi 2:6-8). Their mindset was, “Let’s just keep the services going and keep everybody happy. Let’s not disturb anybody with the challenging truths of God’s word so they keep coming back. Let’s just make a living and keep church going.” Partly due to the failure of the priests, many of the people felt comfortable in various sins. You read in chapter 2 some of the young men were marrying pretty Gentile girls who worshiped other gods, which God’s word warned them not to do (Malachi 2:11). Some of the older men were trading in their old ladies for newer models (Malachi 2:14,16). Some were experimenting in sorcery and witchcraft stuff. Some were not paying their workers fair wagers and ignoring the needs of the widows, orphans and the poor (Malachi 3:5). So they were religious, they were like church goers, but definitely not on fire for God. They were lukewarm.

How’s your spiritual temperature? Probably none of us here are cold, because you’re here this morning. I know it’s possible to be drug in here against your will by a concerned family member. But probably that’s not you. Probably you’re here because you care at least a little about pleasing God. You’re probably not cold. But are you on fire for the Lord? Is He the love of your life, the center of your thoughts, the one you live for everyday, the one you’re striving to be like? Honestly…

Is it a big deal? Does your spiritual temperature really matter that much so long as you’re not cold?

I’ve noticed that…

Lukewarm people usually think it’s fine that they’re lukewarm.

They’ve convinced themselves that the religious things they do and the number of sins that they avoid is sufficient for God’s approval. According to Revelation 3:17 the lukewarm Christians in Laodicea were saying, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” Those in Malachi’s day likewise thought they were fine and acceptable to God.

All through the book of Malachi there are these statements of protest by the people to the charges that Malachi brings against them in the name of the Lord. Every time Malachi would bring a complaint of God against them they would object. For example, Malachi 1:6, “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’” In other words, “What are you talking about? How could you say we have despised Your name? How have we done that? Spell it out for us!” 1:7. “By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’” “Why does it bother you, Lord, what sort of animal we offer on the altar? We don’t see how we’re doing anything wrong.” And all through the book, about every time Malachi calls them out on something, they object. “What are you talking about? What we’re doing is fine!” (2:14,17; 3:7,8,13).

As Proverbs 21:2 says, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Most lukewarm religious people justify the way they are, but…

How does the Lord feel about lukewarmness?

There are several statements in Malachi that express God’s feelings about it. But we’ll just look at a few. Malachi 1:8, “When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts.” Or say you’ve got a boss who’s really a special boss, been working for the company for 25 years and gone out of his way to take care of his employees, and you’re going to throw a get together for him and give him a gift. Are you going to go cheap on him, get him a used jacket with a stain on it from goodwill or some old rusty beat up power tool? It’d be insulting, wouldn’t it? He would have felt better if you hadn’t gotten him anything at all. God says he would rather that they not bother than that they try to get by as cheaply and conveniently as they can with Him. 1:10, “Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.”

Let’s also notice 3:7, “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” That statement implies that though they don’t realize it, their lukewarmness has separated them from God. They need to return to God.

Let’s notice what Jesus told the Laodiceans. Revelation 3:15-17, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” Some versions say “I will vomit you out of my mouth.” It’s like something you take a taste of and it grosses you out and you spew it out. Jesus was saying to them, “It’s makes me sick that after all I have done for you and want to do for you, that I’m not much more important to you than money or your friends or other things you want. That you are not on fire for me makes me want to gag.”

What really strikes me in those words of Jesus is His statement at the end of verse 15…

 “Would that you were either cold or hot!”

We certainly have no problem understanding why Jesus would rather that they be hot, that they be on fire for Him. Of course He would rather they be hot. But would He really rather they be cold? Cold is the opposite end of the spectrum from hot. Cold I think is one who openly rejects Christ. So Jesus would rather that we not even profess to be Christians than be lukewarm? That’s what it sounds like to me, you read it for yourself.

Why would Jesus rather you be cold than lukewarm? Maybe because lukewarm worldly self-centered Christians do more damage to the cause of Christ than the cold. Very few people would point at an atheist and say, “That’s the reason I am not a Christian.” But a lot of people point at lukewarm worldly Christians and say, “If that’s what a Christian is, I don’t want to be one.” Or, “The church is full of hypocrites.”

Another reason I can think of why the Lord would prefer even cold to lukewarm is that there is more hope of changing a cold individual who knows he’s not right with God, than there is of changing a lukewarm person who has just enough religion in his life to make him feel comfortable. Think about the people Jesus had the most effect on in His ministry. He was able to change the hearts of a lot more tax-collectors and sinners than He was Scribes and Pharisees. Because the tax collectors and sinners knew they were spiritually sick and needed a physician. The Scribes and Pharisees were sick too, but they had just enough religion and kept enough rules that they didn’t think they were sick. So Jesus couldn’t get through to them.

So Jesus says I’d prefer that you be cold than lukewarm. Revelation 3:17, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” You think you’re fine. But your spiritual condition could not be worse. Folks, this is the Jesus of the Bible. This is the real Jesus. He is not the Jesus so many believe in and preach today, who is fine if you continue to chase affluence and ease and such like everyone else just so long as you asked Him into your heart or got baptized. The real Jesus does not want a casual acquaintance with you. He does not want to date you. He does not want a Sunday thing with you. He wants like an everyday all-day marriage kind of thing with you, where you are His and He is yours and He won’t accept anything less. The real Jesus calls us to be radically different than the world around us. The real Jesus said things like Matthew 10:37-38, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Toward the end of Luke chapter 9, Jesus called some guys to follow Him, and they said, “Okay we will, but first we’ve got these family obligations, we have to go bury my father, etc.” And Jesus was not okay with them saying, “Well first I have to do this or do that.” There’s no excuse to not do what Jesus says. He’d rather you excuse yourself from your boss, your family, your play, saying, “I can’t do what you want because Jesus wants me to do something else.” The real Jesus says you’ve got to be all in, or don’t bother. You’ve got to get off the fence. You can’t have one foot in the world and one in the kingdom.

I don’t know your hearts. Many of you, I don’t know much of what you do throughout the week. I’m not judging anyone in particular here of being lukewarm. But I think there may be some here who would fall in that category. I think there’s a good chance. And what concerns me is that if you are lukewarm you will respond to this lesson like you’ve responded to others. You’ll say, “Yeah that lesson challenged me. It stepped on my toes.” But then you will walk out of here and do nothing about it and soon forget about this. It would be so sad if you did that.

This is the real Jesus and He says, “Be all in, or don’t bother.” We have to decide, is Jesus really Lord. Was He really sent for us by the God who made us? Did He really die for our sin, rise and become our King? Are we really going to answer to Him for how we live our life? Are the words of this book true? Because if it’s true, we have to be all in, we have to surrender, and let Jesus be Lord of our life everyday. If we’re just going to be religious, just try to have a little bit of God in our life, then we might as well not waste our time.

He so deserves first place in our hearts and lives. We ought to love Him with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength. He created us. He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. He sustains us everyday. He is the reason we’re living and breathing right now. He gave us our children. He gave us the beauty around us. He gives us our food. He so loves us that He sent His Son to show us who He is and how we’re to be and to bear our sins on a cross. He’s been patient with our ingratitude and lack of love for Him. He is so deserving of us giving Him everything we have to give; of us being unashamed of Him in the work place, of us being devoted to prayer and hungry for His word and cheerful givers and humble servants and bold to share our faith. He is worthy of us offering our bodies as living sacrifices everyday.

I know that sounds tough, and it is tough to bring yourself to a place of surrender. But it’s also what will bring you into that place of abundant life He promises. He loves you and He knows how to run your life better than you do. And those who please Him and surrender to Him, He will lead them into joy and peace, they’ll have hope, a clear conscious and be free of fear. It’s the best life to live.

So let’s decide today. Is He Lord? And if He is, let’s give Him everything.

-James Williams