Lukewarm – Revelation 3
“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
The Lord is directly speaking to the Laodicean church one of the seventh churches of Revelation. Laodicea was a prosperous town, and some of the Christians there were well to do. Pride in its prosperity led to spiritual weakness.
Of itself wealth is not wrong. However, the possession of wealth subjects its possessor to temptations of pride and self-dependency. The seventh message to the churches represents also the experience of the church during the closing period of earth’s history.
The condition of the Laodicean church was more dangerous than if the church had been cold. A Lukewarm Christian is characterized by keeping enough of the form, and even of the content of the gospel, to comfort the conscious but gives little or no effort to reaching the high ideal of a victorious life through Christ.
The typical Laodicean Christian is content with things as they are and proud of the little progress he makes. For him, it is difficult to see his great need and how far he is from the goal that Christ sets before him. If the Laodicean Christian was cold, the Spirit of God can easily convince him of his dangerous condition that he may change. But his sufficiency is blinding him.
The Cure
Therefore, Jesus offers Lukewarm Christian free salvation in the form of three needed gifts to change his lukewarm condition:
- Gold: which refers to the “faith working through love” (Galatians 5:6; James 2:5).
- White raiment: which refers to the righteousness of Christ (Galatians 3:27; Matthew 22:11; Revelation 3:4).
- Eye salve: which refers to the work of the Holy Spirit to enlighten the heart (John 16:8–11).
If the end time Christian accepts Christ’s offer, his spiritual condition would change from lukewarm to hot. And thus, he will be accepted into the kingdom of God. He will bring the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) which are “worthy of repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
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In His service,
BibleAsk Team
