7/14/13 REVELATION: THE PRESENT FUTURE; Revelation 3:14-20 The Water's Just Fine

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Revelation: The Present Future

Week 1: The Water’s Just Fine

July 14, 2013

 

Read Revelation 3:14-20 (nlt)

14“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation:

 

15“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold.  I wish that you were one or the other!  16But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!  17You say, ‘I am rich.  I have everything I want.  I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire.  Then you will be rich.  Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

 

20“Look! I stand at the door and knock.  If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

 

 

John’s revelation of his vision of the end times has been a book that has held Christians’ attention for centuries.  Revelation is an amazing book, a hopeful book, a perplexing book, a sober book, and a joyous book.  It’s a great message for all who put their hope in Christ.

 

As John encounters Christ in the beginning of his vision, Jesus sends a message to seven churches.  The content of six of the seven messages is a blend of encouragement and warning.  However, the final message to the church at Laodicea is noticeably devoid of encouragement.  Instead, it is a stringent rebuke of a church that is missing the mark.

 

As we look at where we are as a church today, we can see certain shades of us in this message.  Our affluence—particularly when compared to other parts of the world—makes us complacent.  We don’t need God, except when we “need” Him.  We feel we can pretty much take care of ourselves, especially when it comes to doing the things “good Christians” do. We know how to play the role.  We like for God to be God, but at a distance.

 

Jesus urges the church to make itself true to the model of what a Christ-following church should be, or else risk irrelevancy.  Again, this is a message for us students in today’s 21st century church.  Though we often act otherwise, we can do nothing apart from Christ.  Any feeling of self-sufficiency we may entertain is a false truth.

 

 

This is the first of four lessons from the book of Revelation. In this lesson, we’re going to talk about this idea of how needy we are in Christ.  It was a problem for the first century church at Laodicea.  And it is a problem for us today.  Let’s jump in and talk about the right, best way to respond to our spiritual needs.

 

 

1. Rely on God, not your own abilities or strength

 

  • What are some positive, beneficial uses for cold water?
  • What are some positive, beneficial uses for hot water?
  • Why do most people hate drinking lukewarm water?  Why are its uses much more limited than either cold or hot water?
  • Look at verse 16.  Why would Jesus say hHe would spit them out because they were lukewarm?  Why was He so disappointed in the Christians in Laodicea?
  • What are some examples of how we can have a positive spiritual impact on the world?  What are some ways we might have a negative or minimal spiritual impact on the world?
  • How capable are you of meeting your own spiritual needs apart from God?

 

It’s easy to think that we are self-reliant, that we can take care of ourselves.  If we aren’t careful, we forget about God until we need Him.  We want God to fix our problems but then leave us alone.  We generally live safe, comfortable lives as Christians, and don’t really like when we’re made to feel uncomfortable.  The problem is that God says we are completely poor, needy, and broken apart from Him.  So we must rely on God, instead of our own abilities and strength.

 

2. Seek lasting riches, not worldly wealth

                                 

  • Even if you are not rich, there is a good chance you are significantly wealthier than millions of impoverished people in this world.  If you have all your needs met every day, how does that affect your ability to remember to be thankful?
  • When people are starving and they receive food, do you think they have a hard time being thankful for it?  Why or why not?
  • Laodicea was an affluent city.  Its residents were proud of their wealth, as we see in verse 17.  How can we be so proud of our own abilities that we fail to realize our true need in Christ?
  • If you live in a state where you don’t see that God is the only one capable of meeting your spiritual needs and that God does in fact meet them all the time, how easy is it to miss the chance at being moved by God’s provision in your life?
  • Why is it spiritually risky to place worldly wealth as one of your highest goals in life?

 

The Christians in Laodicea thought they met their own needs—or at least had forgotten what it was like to look to God for the meeting of their needs.  They no longer thanked God or acknowledged God as the giver of all good things.  Jesus was challenging them to focus on true wealth, which is a right relationship with God, not material possessions.  We must do the same thing: We must see God as the provider of all that we need to live purposeful and passion-filled spiritual lives and choose to pursue lasting riches over worldly wealth.

 

 

3. Respond to Jesus’ loving call to repentance

 

  • In verses 19 and 20, how does Jesus take the sharp words spoken to the church at Laodicea and provide the Christians there with hope for a change?
  • How does the idea of repentance come into play with the kind of attitudes we have been talking about in this lesson?
  • What does it mean to open the door to your life, ushering Jesus into your life in the role of leadership and lordship?

 

In His mercy, Jesus gives us a second chance to see our needs and to see Him as the answer to those needs.  When we are convicted about our wrong attitudes, we can turn from them and seek out God in a humble manner.  We can turn away from the attitude that says we can do it on our own.  We can turn away from sinful actions that fly in the face of Christ’s commandment to live God-honoring lives.

 

 

ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

Matthew 23:27-28 (nlt)

27“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees.  Hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity.  28Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.”

 

  • Read Matthew 23:25-28.  What was Jesus saying to the Pharisees here?  What did He mean with the imagery of dirty cups and whitewashed tombs?

 

  • What does it mean to be a hypocrite?  Why is being a hypocrite damaging to the way we represent our faith to others?

 

  • How does this passage relate to the passage we studied from Revelation 3?  What similarities do you see between how Jesus described the church in Laodicea and the Pharisees?

 

APPLICATION

  • If you think about your attitude toward your stuff, your possessions, do you find satisfaction and comfort in them?  How can you begin to seek more comfort, fulfillment, and satisfaction in Christ?

 

  • What about your actions?  Have you slipped in your diligence toward living a God-centered life?  Have you allowed some habits of sin to slip into your life?

 

  • Are you fully living your life according to God’s truth?  Do you study and apply the Bible?  How can you grow in this area?

 

 

SUMMARY

God desires that we would see ourselves as completely dependent on Him for our every need.  The words Jesus speaks to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3 reveal this.  This lesson sent a powerful message to us teenagers.  If we can begin to understand that we will always be spiritually destitute without leaning on God for all our strength and direction, we can build the foundation for a powerful spiritual life as an adult.

 

 

For Keeps [Memory Verse]

“Look!  I stand at the door and knock.  If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends” (Revelation 3:20 NLT).

 

 

 

 

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