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Brothers and sisters,

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I want to speak to you this morning

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about the lukewarm Christian.

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Look, whether you like 
that terminology or not,

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when I was first saved,

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I guess because in certain circles

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that I considered had 
large amounts of error

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and maybe the true 
Gospel wasn't being taught,

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I would hear about backsliding

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and lukewarm and carnal Christians.

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And if you're like me,

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a lot of you probably,

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we don't like that terminology.

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There's something about it.

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We realize there's a lot of error

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that can go behind 
that kind of terminology.

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My brethren, listen.

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Is there anything in our Christian life

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to cause us more shame,

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deeper confusion,

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than the cooling of our affections

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toward the Lord Jesus Christ?

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If you think about the true Christian,

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what is the greatest evil 
of which we are capable?

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Is it not right here?

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Is it not backsliding?

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Is it not when the 
Christian becomes carnal,

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worldly, loses his first love?

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Is it not that decay, that decline

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of our affections to the living Christ

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after we've been converted?

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I mean, surely it must be.

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You may not like these terms.

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We may have grown to not like them,

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but whatever you want to call it,

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there isn't an honest God-fearing 
man or woman in this room

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who's been saved any length of time

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who cannot testify with embarrassment

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by his or her own testimony

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of having at times gone backward.

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I mean, we've sought,

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we reached for Christ.

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We've been there.

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We've enjoyed His presence.

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Our hearts are warmed. We're determined.

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We want to run this race.

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But then something happens.

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Our attention gets distracted.

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It's just like Mason was talking about.

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We turn our eyes off

51
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and there's a thousand reasons why.

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It could be because we're 
living on the heat of a conference.

53
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And you could say that's great

54
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and I feel so good.

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And we could take our eyes off

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on a thousand things that 
seem possibly even good.

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And suddenly what we find ourselves doing

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is we've reached this point

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and as soon as our necks begin to turn,

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we begin to go backwards.

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And now we have to retrace 
that ground again.

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You remember Pilgrim?

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He'd gone all this way

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and here come two people on the path.

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And they're saying, 
"You need to turn back.

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You need to turn back. 
There's lions in the way."

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Well, now he's afraid and they've gone by.

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Night is beginning to come on.

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He's looking for assurance

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and he reaches in there

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and where is it? Where's the scroll?

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He begins to curse himself.

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That arbor back there. He slept.

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He went to sleep.

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His affections went to sleep.

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And now he's having to go backwards.

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And now he finds his scroll back there

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and he sat down there and he wept.

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He's just saying this ground,

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now I have to walk three times over.

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I only needed to walk it once.

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Brethren,

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that's exactly the way it is

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with the lukewarmness of the Christian.

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Some little bit of that 
of John the Baptist's

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burning, shining light,

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and we take our eyes off.

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Our heart cools.

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You're not as you once were.

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Your soul has lost ground.

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Losing ground, losing time,

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losing temperature.

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Ground we must then tread all over again.

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And the thing is,

95
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that happens to us

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when there are words just blazing.

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(incomplete thought)

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I'm sure there's so much 
richness in Isaiah 53

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you can't hardly grab it all at once.

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But that text just jumped out.

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"He poured out His soul unto death."

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I mean, you think about Christ

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pouring out His soul unto death

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after He has made all, total,

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full satisfaction for our sins

106
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in quenching the divine 
wrath that stood against me,

107
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took my sin, nailed it to His cross,

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and I bear it no more.

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He's come and allowed His Spirit

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to take up full possession of me.

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Now He stands there at the right hand

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and intercedes for me,

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and all of this has happened.

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There isn't one of us,

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after all this absolutely breathtaking,

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mind-blowing exercise

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with this matchless power and grace,

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and then suddenly what?

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We're taken up by some thing.

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Oh, it's okay to take my eyes off Him now.

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After all that.

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And suddenly, the next thing we know,

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we don't even know where we are.

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Where...? I should be over there.

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Where have I gotten to?

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Listen,

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how many of you can say

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when you sing, "Come Thou Fount,"

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you sing those lines:

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"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.

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Prone to leave the God I love."

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How many of you say,

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man, I don't know why that's in that song.

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I just don't even understand that.

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The fact is brethren

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we do understand that.

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We understand it too well.

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And this is certainly 
in our Christian life,

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it is the greatest evil,

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the greatest insult to the Lord

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of which the true saint of God is capable.

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And it may be some of you right now,

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if you're honest,

144
00:07:12,632 --> 00:07:16,522
your temperature is not befitting

145
00:07:16,522 --> 00:07:19,421
the call to which you have been called.

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I mean, you look there. It just isn't.

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In our spirits, we desire to be hot.

148
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We know Jesus deserves our heat.

149
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But we're so prone to wander

150
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and we feel it.

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We feel it, don't we?

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I mean, I see Jesus there in the garden.

153
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He was nigh unto death.

154
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And you look over there at Peter

155
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and the sons of Zebedee.

156
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What are you guys doing?

157
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Why are you sleeping?

158
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But you see, we've been there.

159
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And some of you are there.

160
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Why are they sleeping?

161
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I mean, in light of such 
realities going on around us,

162
00:08:11,006 --> 00:08:13,608
and we're sleeping.

163
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And we feel this.

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Who has not known 
among the Christians here

165
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that dreaded season

166
00:08:21,824 --> 00:08:25,547
when it's winter with our soul?

167
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And we feel it.

168
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We hear Jesus words:

169
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"the spirit is willing, 
but the flesh is weak."

170
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And we feel it. We know that.

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We know it.

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Brethren, there isn't a one of us

173
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that has to wonder and guess,

174
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deliberate why it is that the Scriptures

175
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would say, "Be not weary in well-doing."

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Because we get weary.

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I've been weary.

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I could see it in Saied.

179
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Weary.

180
00:09:12,490 --> 00:09:14,212
"Be not slothful in zeal,

181
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but fervent in spirit."

182
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We know why the Scriptures 
say things like this.

183
00:09:19,355 --> 00:09:21,457
Or, "Lift up your drooping hands

184
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and strengthen your weak knees."

185
00:09:24,176 --> 00:09:26,926
Truly, truly, solemn fact,

186
00:09:26,926 --> 00:09:29,285
that after all God had done for us,

187
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the tenderness He has shown us,

188
00:09:31,020 --> 00:09:33,385
unspeakable kindness,

189
00:09:33,385 --> 00:09:35,726
rich displays of grace,

190
00:09:35,726 --> 00:09:39,914
there still exists within each of us

191
00:09:39,914 --> 00:09:44,527
an almost alarming, incomprehensible

192
00:09:44,527 --> 00:09:51,056
ability to lukewarmness.

193
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My brothers and sisters,

194
00:09:52,990 --> 00:09:57,154
isn't it just like our Savior?

195
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He never leaves us alone.

196
00:09:59,915 --> 00:10:02,425
He comes with a remedy.

197
00:10:02,425 --> 00:10:04,542
I mean, you see it there in v. 20.

198
00:10:04,542 --> 00:10:06,088
The remedy is Him.

199
00:10:06,088 --> 00:10:07,395
Isn't that always it?

200
00:10:07,395 --> 00:10:09,695
Every malady, every problem,

201
00:10:09,695 --> 00:10:12,594
every infirmity, every spiritual sickness,

202
00:10:12,594 --> 00:10:14,748
it comes back to this every time.

203
00:10:14,748 --> 00:10:16,636
There isn't any problem that develops

204
00:10:16,636 --> 00:10:20,115
in the Christian life that can't 
be traced back right here.

205
00:10:20,115 --> 00:10:21,681
It's Christ.

206
00:10:21,681 --> 00:10:25,533
The remedy is Christ.

207
00:10:25,533 --> 00:10:28,591
That's what our brother was just 
trying to tell us in the manna.

208
00:10:28,591 --> 00:10:32,691
If you try to live on the conference,

209
00:10:32,691 --> 00:10:37,238
you'll be retracing ground.

210
00:10:37,238 --> 00:10:40,956
But if we go home and all anew:

211
00:10:40,956 --> 00:10:44,512
I want Christ.

212
00:10:44,512 --> 00:10:47,055
What a blessed thing!

213
00:10:47,055 --> 00:10:48,558
The treatment for lukewarmness

214
00:10:48,558 --> 00:10:50,102
is Christ at the dinner table.

215
00:10:50,102 --> 00:10:53,458
All you and I have to do 
is open the door, right?

216
00:10:53,458 --> 00:10:55,862
Isn't that what it says?

217
00:10:55,862 --> 00:10:57,425
Open the door.

218
00:10:57,425 --> 00:10:59,103
You all see that?

219
00:10:59,103 --> 00:11:03,934
So I have entitled my message:

220
00:11:03,934 --> 00:11:07,197
"How Do I Open the Door?"

221
00:11:07,197 --> 00:11:10,405
How do we get the door open?

222
00:11:10,405 --> 00:11:11,818
So let's look at this.

223
00:11:11,818 --> 00:11:14,034
The first thing that I 
want to tell you is this:

224
00:11:14,034 --> 00:11:18,019
There is an urgency in 
getting the door open.

225
00:11:18,019 --> 00:11:22,294
Look with me at v. 15 and 16 
(of Revelation 3).

226
00:11:22,294 --> 00:11:24,642
"I know your works.

227
00:11:24,642 --> 00:11:26,865
You are neither cold nor hot.

228
00:11:26,865 --> 00:11:29,132
Would that you were either cold or hot.

229
00:11:29,132 --> 00:11:30,787
So because you are lukewarm

230
00:11:30,787 --> 00:11:32,902
and neither hot nor cold,

231
00:11:32,902 --> 00:11:36,105
I will spit you out of My mouth."

232
00:11:36,105 --> 00:11:39,035
Look, I may not be as skilled

233
00:11:39,035 --> 00:11:41,349
at deciphering symbolism

234
00:11:41,349 --> 00:11:46,371
as Kevin was over in the Song of Solomon,

235
00:11:46,371 --> 00:11:47,647
but when Jesus says,

236
00:11:47,647 --> 00:11:51,823
"I will spit you out of My mouth,"

237
00:11:51,823 --> 00:11:58,246
I don't get the feeling that 
that's a good thing, right?

238
00:11:58,246 --> 00:12:00,879
Look, you go through and you look

239
00:12:00,879 --> 00:12:04,434
at this concept of spitting.

240
00:12:04,434 --> 00:12:09,312
If a man had some kind of issue

241
00:12:09,312 --> 00:12:12,265
under the Mosaic law 
and he spit on somebody,

242
00:12:12,265 --> 00:12:14,502
they became unclean.

243
00:12:14,502 --> 00:12:17,762
God said of Miriam,

244
00:12:17,762 --> 00:12:20,653
if her father had spit in her face,

245
00:12:20,653 --> 00:12:24,132
she would have been shamed

246
00:12:24,132 --> 00:12:28,703
for what, seven days?

247
00:12:28,703 --> 00:12:32,468
You find that David

248
00:12:32,468 --> 00:12:34,780
when he was before the 
king of the Philistines,

249
00:12:34,780 --> 00:12:37,052
he let spit run down his mouth.

250
00:12:37,052 --> 00:12:39,734
It was a picture of insanity.

251
00:12:39,734 --> 00:12:42,380
A picture of insanity. 
A picture of uncleanness.

252
00:12:42,380 --> 00:12:48,351
A picture of shame.

253
00:12:48,351 --> 00:12:53,316
Job said God made him a 
byword of the peoples.

254
00:12:53,316 --> 00:12:59,596
And "I am one before whom men spit."

255
00:12:59,596 --> 00:13:02,782
And we remember what was 
said of Christ by the prophet.

256
00:13:02,782 --> 00:13:04,708
"I gave My back to those who strike,

257
00:13:04,708 --> 00:13:07,549
My cheeks to those who pull out the beard.

258
00:13:07,549 --> 00:13:12,413
I hid My face from disgrace and spitting."

259
00:13:12,413 --> 00:13:14,890
Spitting is a very disgraceful thing.

260
00:13:14,890 --> 00:13:15,876
It is in our day.

261
00:13:15,876 --> 00:13:18,861
It was in that day.

262
00:13:18,861 --> 00:13:20,384
But you know what?

263
00:13:20,384 --> 00:13:23,510
This word is even more than that.

264
00:13:23,510 --> 00:13:28,387
Some of you have 
translations that say spew.

265
00:13:28,387 --> 00:13:33,301
Some of you have 
translations that say vomit.

266
00:13:33,301 --> 00:13:38,112
In the Greek Old Testament, Isaiah 19:14,

267
00:13:38,112 --> 00:13:40,640
you have the same word.

268
00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:42,620
Listen to how it reads in the English.

269
00:13:42,620 --> 00:13:44,235
"The Lord has mingled within her

270
00:13:44,235 --> 00:13:45,821
a spirit of confusion

271
00:13:45,821 --> 00:13:48,872
and they will make 
Egypt stagger in all its deeds

272
00:13:48,872 --> 00:13:53,115
as a drunken man staggers in his vomit."

273
00:13:53,115 --> 00:13:54,654
Do you know what this word is?

274
00:13:54,654 --> 00:13:59,294
It's to reject with extreme disgust.

275
00:13:59,294 --> 00:14:02,008
Jesus' indictment against these Laodiceans

276
00:14:02,008 --> 00:14:07,057
is that they are half-heated.

277
00:14:07,057 --> 00:14:10,235
Half-hearted.

278
00:14:10,235 --> 00:14:13,226
Partially passionate in 
their relation to Him.

279
00:14:13,226 --> 00:14:16,657
Look, they're not cold as though

280
00:14:16,657 --> 00:14:19,805
they've never been 
warmed by this Gospel heat.

281
00:14:19,805 --> 00:14:23,156
It's not that.

282
00:14:23,156 --> 00:14:24,965
But when Jesus comes

283
00:14:24,965 --> 00:14:26,192
and He examines them

284
00:14:26,192 --> 00:14:28,098
for the intensity and the fervency

285
00:14:28,098 --> 00:14:29,985
that He wants to find in His people

286
00:14:29,985 --> 00:14:32,956
and in His churches,

287
00:14:32,956 --> 00:14:35,162
it's missing.

288
00:14:35,162 --> 00:14:38,181
These people aren't the kind that 
just out-and-out reject Him,

289
00:14:38,181 --> 00:14:45,020
they're just halfway, in-between.

290
00:14:45,020 --> 00:14:48,707
Christ has a moderate 
influence in their lives.

291
00:14:48,707 --> 00:14:52,630
They're not totally 
uninfluenced by Christ.

292
00:14:52,630 --> 00:14:58,153
But this serious panting 
after conformity to Christ,

293
00:14:58,153 --> 00:15:00,581
this breathing after holiness

294
00:15:00,581 --> 00:15:02,681
and striving hard against sin

295
00:15:02,681 --> 00:15:04,337
and going hard after God,

296
00:15:04,337 --> 00:15:07,191
the pure delights and enjoyment,

297
00:15:07,191 --> 00:15:09,855
they're not controlling them.

298
00:15:09,855 --> 00:15:12,646
It's almost like when it 
comes to these concepts

299
00:15:12,646 --> 00:15:15,363
like going hard after God,

300
00:15:15,363 --> 00:15:17,950
they're just kind of like 
the deer in the headlights.

301
00:15:17,950 --> 00:15:20,565
There's a dazed look.

302
00:15:20,565 --> 00:15:23,794
Or, we're religious.

303
00:15:23,794 --> 00:15:25,330
We're going to church.

304
00:15:25,330 --> 00:15:28,073
We go to the Bible study. We do this.

305
00:15:28,073 --> 00:15:30,669
We're involved.

306
00:15:30,669 --> 00:15:32,575
But what's happened here?

307
00:15:32,575 --> 00:15:34,595
Jesus has hid Himself

308
00:15:34,595 --> 00:15:36,893
on the other side of the door

309
00:15:36,893 --> 00:15:41,913
due to the lukewarmness of heart

310
00:15:41,913 --> 00:15:46,520
and the unkind resistance to His love.

311
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,470
There's a sickening moderation.

312
00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:52,044
It's mixed.

313
00:15:52,044 --> 00:15:53,383
There's distraction.

314
00:15:53,383 --> 00:15:55,889
Formality is too real.

315
00:15:55,889 --> 00:16:01,633
Listen, I can remember

316
00:16:01,633 --> 00:16:04,552
when I was first saved.

317
00:16:04,552 --> 00:16:06,832
I didn't have many friends in high school

318
00:16:06,832 --> 00:16:11,745
that professed Christ.

319
00:16:11,745 --> 00:16:14,821
In fact, none of my immediate friends.

320
00:16:14,821 --> 00:16:19,696
In fact, in all my school

321
00:16:19,696 --> 00:16:22,729
I only knew of one guy in my class

322
00:16:22,729 --> 00:16:26,629
that professed to be a Christian.

323
00:16:26,629 --> 00:16:28,935
When the Lord saved me,

324
00:16:28,935 --> 00:16:33,919
He was playing on a softball team

325
00:16:33,919 --> 00:16:36,593
that my team was playing against.

326
00:16:36,593 --> 00:16:39,531
And I was going into the 
outfield for batting practice,

327
00:16:39,531 --> 00:16:41,186
and as I walked by him,

328
00:16:41,186 --> 00:16:42,826
of all people that I ever thought

329
00:16:42,826 --> 00:16:45,132
I went to high school with 
that would understand

330
00:16:45,132 --> 00:16:47,882
what had happened to me,
I thought it would be him.

331
00:16:47,882 --> 00:16:49,467
And he looked at me and he said,

332
00:16:49,467 --> 00:16:51,347
"I heard you've become a Jesus freak,"

333
00:16:51,347 --> 00:16:55,711
and he said it with all mocking.

334
00:16:55,711 --> 00:17:00,805
And I said, "Curt, how 
are we supposed to be?"

335
00:17:00,805 --> 00:17:04,407
I remember my father - my step-father -

336
00:17:04,407 --> 00:17:07,237
he was trying to set 
me up when I was single.

337
00:17:07,237 --> 00:17:08,809
He was trying to set me up

338
00:17:08,809 --> 00:17:10,622
with this girl from Michigan State.

339
00:17:10,622 --> 00:17:11,724
He gave her my number

340
00:17:11,724 --> 00:17:13,218
and she was trying to call me.

341
00:17:13,218 --> 00:17:14,775
And I wouldn't answer her calls.

342
00:17:14,775 --> 00:17:16,874
And he came in all furious one day

343
00:17:16,874 --> 00:17:20,129
and he wanted to know 
why I wasn't doing it.

344
00:17:20,129 --> 00:17:26,517
I said, "Dad, I'm going to let 
the Lord choose my wife."

345
00:17:26,517 --> 00:17:27,995
And he said, "You know what?

346
00:17:27,995 --> 00:17:30,769
Religion is fine, but 
you've taken it too far."

347
00:17:30,769 --> 00:17:33,463
The world wants moderation.

348
00:17:33,463 --> 00:17:36,628
Moderated. No excess. No zeal.

349
00:17:36,628 --> 00:17:38,272
No fervency.

350
00:17:38,272 --> 00:17:41,507
None of that.

351
00:17:41,507 --> 00:17:45,835
And the fact is we can start to become

352
00:17:45,835 --> 00:17:48,430
influenced by that.

353
00:17:48,430 --> 00:17:50,929
We can start to bring that in.

354
00:17:50,929 --> 00:17:53,545
We don't want to go overboard.

355
00:17:53,545 --> 00:17:55,043
I mean, after all, you start

356
00:17:55,043 --> 00:17:56,827
inviting prostitutes into your house,

357
00:17:56,827 --> 00:17:59,477
you don't know what you're 
going to get. That's crazy.

358
00:17:59,477 --> 00:18:03,111
That's for people over in Louisville.

359
00:18:03,111 --> 00:18:08,523
That's not for us.

360
00:18:08,523 --> 00:18:13,573
You get in the Word.

361
00:18:13,573 --> 00:18:15,060
God-breathed words.

362
00:18:15,060 --> 00:18:19,068
Well, that's pretty mediocre.

363
00:18:19,068 --> 00:18:22,245
Your dealings with Christ become fewer.

364
00:18:22,245 --> 00:18:24,356
Sin - you know what it's like

365
00:18:24,356 --> 00:18:27,842
when your heart is on fire towards Christ

366
00:18:27,842 --> 00:18:29,299
and you've sinned?

367
00:18:29,299 --> 00:18:31,455
And you put your head down

368
00:18:31,455 --> 00:18:34,226
and weep bitterly like Peter.

369
00:18:34,226 --> 00:18:35,996
Because I'll tell you what happened

370
00:18:35,996 --> 00:18:39,492
right before Peter 
wept bitterly like that.

371
00:18:39,492 --> 00:18:41,334
Luke tells us

372
00:18:41,334 --> 00:18:43,221
they made eye contact.

373
00:18:43,221 --> 00:18:45,446
When you're walking close with Christ

374
00:18:45,446 --> 00:18:47,016
you're making eye contact,

375
00:18:47,016 --> 00:18:48,734
and when you sin,

376
00:18:48,734 --> 00:18:50,176
He looks at you.

377
00:18:50,176 --> 00:18:52,459
You go weep bitterly, 
but it's not like that

378
00:18:52,459 --> 00:18:54,888
when your heart starts to grow cold.

379
00:18:54,888 --> 00:19:00,679
You'll confess sin generally.

380
00:19:00,679 --> 00:19:02,862
You'll get in the Word, you'll pray.

381
00:19:02,862 --> 00:19:05,749
Yeah, you'll go to the prayer meeting.

382
00:19:05,749 --> 00:19:08,862
You may pray at the meals.

383
00:19:08,862 --> 00:19:13,848
But something begins to get lost.

384
00:19:13,848 --> 00:19:15,173
And we can say, well,

385
00:19:15,173 --> 00:19:19,404
we would think that if 
something really disgusted Christ,

386
00:19:19,404 --> 00:19:23,228
it would be those people that just 
out-and-out reject Him and the atheists,

387
00:19:23,228 --> 00:19:25,415
but you know what 
we have a picture of here.

388
00:19:25,415 --> 00:19:27,065
We have a picture of Christ

389
00:19:27,065 --> 00:19:31,242
and He takes this cup

390
00:19:31,242 --> 00:19:34,059
and it's you.

391
00:19:34,059 --> 00:19:36,946
It's your church.

392
00:19:36,946 --> 00:19:39,810
And He puts it to His lips.

393
00:19:39,810 --> 00:19:43,394
(spitting sound)

394
00:19:43,394 --> 00:19:49,394
What? I'm not an athiest.

395
00:19:49,394 --> 00:19:54,596
Jesus wants fervent passion of His people.

396
00:19:54,596 --> 00:19:55,859
He wants it.

397
00:19:55,859 --> 00:19:59,683
And it is detestable.

398
00:19:59,683 --> 00:20:03,435
Violent reaction of disgust and contempt.

399
00:20:03,435 --> 00:20:05,391
Look, Jesus' threat to Laodicea

400
00:20:05,391 --> 00:20:10,673
and to all lukewarm professors of His name

401
00:20:10,673 --> 00:20:17,385
is that this vomit, this spit, is them

402
00:20:17,385 --> 00:20:19,097
unless they repent.

403
00:20:19,097 --> 00:20:21,349
And look, there is no way you can take

404
00:20:21,349 --> 00:20:24,357
this imagery of vomiting

405
00:20:24,357 --> 00:20:26,932
people out of Christ's mouth

406
00:20:26,932 --> 00:20:31,426
to mean somehow that this is just,

407
00:20:31,426 --> 00:20:34,406
well, He's going to vomit you out,

408
00:20:34,406 --> 00:20:37,157
but after all in the end,

409
00:20:37,157 --> 00:20:42,495
you're going to be saved.

410
00:20:42,495 --> 00:20:45,034
I'll tell you something.

411
00:20:45,034 --> 00:20:46,888
There are two places in the Scriptures

412
00:20:46,888 --> 00:20:52,056
that I find where Christ stands 
at the door and knocks.

413
00:20:52,056 --> 00:20:55,655
One was the text Brother Kevin 
dealt with the other day.

414
00:20:55,655 --> 00:20:58,308
Song of Solomon 5:2.

415
00:20:58,308 --> 00:21:00,976
And right here.

416
00:21:00,976 --> 00:21:03,888
And you know what I find very 
interesting about over there?

417
00:21:03,888 --> 00:21:07,150
I heard one preacher say just recently,

418
00:21:07,150 --> 00:21:11,930
David had his Psalm 51.

419
00:21:11,930 --> 00:21:17,302
His psalm of repentance, of contrition.

420
00:21:17,302 --> 00:21:23,290
He said Solomon didn't have his Psalm 51.

421
00:21:23,290 --> 00:21:27,566
Solomon had Ecclesiastes

422
00:21:27,566 --> 00:21:30,331
and the Song of Solomon.

423
00:21:30,331 --> 00:21:35,226
You know the Scriptures tell 
us the Lord loved Solomon,

424
00:21:35,226 --> 00:21:39,888
and yet he went after 
the gods of his wives.

425
00:21:39,888 --> 00:21:41,453
The Song of Solomon -

426
00:21:41,453 --> 00:21:42,569
you know how it starts?

427
00:21:42,569 --> 00:21:44,715
Kevin, you know how it starts?

428
00:21:44,715 --> 00:21:46,241
How does it start?

429
00:21:46,241 --> 00:21:49,096
(unintelligible)

430
00:21:49,096 --> 00:21:50,654
And?

431
00:21:50,654 --> 00:21:51,983
(unintelligible)

432
00:21:51,983 --> 00:21:56,691
It speaks about His kisses, right?

433
00:21:56,691 --> 00:21:58,821
He found His kisses to be sweet.

434
00:21:58,821 --> 00:22:06,584
The beauty there is it seems that Solomon

435
00:22:06,584 --> 00:22:10,275
is writing this after concluding

436
00:22:10,275 --> 00:22:13,924
that everything else 
is vain in Ecclesiastes,

437
00:22:13,924 --> 00:22:15,844
and then coming to this One and saying:

438
00:22:15,844 --> 00:22:20,298
Oh, the kisses of His lips!

439
00:22:20,298 --> 00:22:21,926
This is the picture of a man

440
00:22:21,926 --> 00:22:24,931
who's already returned,

441
00:22:24,931 --> 00:22:29,020
whose heart has already come back to heat

442
00:22:29,020 --> 00:22:32,217
and he's writing.

443
00:22:32,217 --> 00:22:35,408
Revelation 3 is different.

444
00:22:35,408 --> 00:22:39,085
Because it's dealing with 
a church that hasn't.

445
00:22:39,085 --> 00:22:40,913
They may go one way or the other.

446
00:22:40,913 --> 00:22:42,309
And so there's a warning here

447
00:22:42,309 --> 00:22:43,801
that you don't get over there

448
00:22:43,801 --> 00:22:45,184
in the Song of Solomon.

449
00:22:45,184 --> 00:22:49,706
There's a threatening here.

450
00:22:49,706 --> 00:22:51,704
That if you are in that state,

451
00:22:51,704 --> 00:22:55,051
it is not a safe one.

452
00:22:55,051 --> 00:22:57,102
Look, it's not just God's people

453
00:22:57,102 --> 00:22:59,293
may go there at times.

454
00:22:59,293 --> 00:23:02,211
We do, but the 
responsibility is to repent.

455
00:23:02,211 --> 00:23:03,816
It is to get out of there.

456
00:23:03,816 --> 00:23:07,328
It is a deadly place.

457
00:23:07,328 --> 00:23:10,443
That's the kind of picture that we have.

458
00:23:10,443 --> 00:23:14,294
This vomiting, this spewing,

459
00:23:14,294 --> 00:23:16,242
there's no way you can make that imagery

460
00:23:16,242 --> 00:23:18,666
into anything else but 
this spitting them out.

461
00:23:18,666 --> 00:23:20,679
This is rejection.

462
00:23:20,679 --> 00:23:22,476
This is not saving language.

463
00:23:22,476 --> 00:23:24,252
This is rejection language.

464
00:23:24,252 --> 00:23:27,255
This is rejection with 
an exclamation mark.

465
00:23:27,255 --> 00:23:30,178
Jesus is clearly meaning to shock us

466
00:23:30,178 --> 00:23:32,949
with this kind of disgusting imagery.

467
00:23:32,949 --> 00:23:35,698
Can you imagine?

468
00:23:35,698 --> 00:23:40,583
We often like to think of Jesus weeping,

469
00:23:40,583 --> 00:23:45,371
Jesus laying His hand on a leper.

470
00:23:45,371 --> 00:23:49,533
But think of the 
imagery of Jesus vomiting.

471
00:23:49,533 --> 00:23:52,718
Very, very graphic imagery!

472
00:23:52,718 --> 00:23:55,888
The Son of God in purity and perfection

473
00:23:55,888 --> 00:23:57,986
and something so sickening touches

474
00:23:57,986 --> 00:23:59,418
His sense of taste.

475
00:23:59,418 --> 00:24:03,765
The result? Vomit.

476
00:24:03,765 --> 00:24:05,829
This is clearly meant to startle us,

477
00:24:05,829 --> 00:24:08,021
to shake us.

478
00:24:08,021 --> 00:24:10,253
Isn't it true?

479
00:24:10,253 --> 00:24:12,471
We get those people who can mistake

480
00:24:12,471 --> 00:24:17,685
this lukewarmness as a state of safety.

481
00:24:17,685 --> 00:24:19,311
But it's not that.

482
00:24:19,311 --> 00:24:21,715
Brethren, lukewarmness is fatal

483
00:24:21,715 --> 00:24:24,039
and must never be 
mistaken for a safe state.

484
00:24:24,039 --> 00:24:25,407
It is not safe.

485
00:24:25,407 --> 00:24:27,333
To every professing believer,

486
00:24:27,333 --> 00:24:30,288
Jesus is saying beware! Beware!

487
00:24:30,288 --> 00:24:32,772
This is not safe!

488
00:24:32,772 --> 00:24:35,142
Don't go there and if 
you happen to be there,

489
00:24:35,142 --> 00:24:37,846
get out of there!

490
00:24:37,846 --> 00:24:40,053
There needs to be repentance.

491
00:24:40,053 --> 00:24:44,013
The faith that saves is not a lukewarm,

492
00:24:44,013 --> 00:24:45,670
half-hearted faith.

493
00:24:45,670 --> 00:24:47,076
It may for a season decline,

494
00:24:47,076 --> 00:24:49,215
decay into this state

495
00:24:49,215 --> 00:24:51,473
and to our shame.

496
00:24:51,473 --> 00:24:53,053
But we must not stay there.

497
00:24:53,053 --> 00:24:55,732
And so the living Christ -

498
00:24:55,732 --> 00:24:57,538
this One who calls Himself the Amen,

499
00:24:57,538 --> 00:24:58,634
He who is true -

500
00:24:58,634 --> 00:25:01,090
He warns Laodicea and every other church,

501
00:25:01,090 --> 00:25:04,460
if you do not repent as 
He says there in v. 19

502
00:25:04,460 --> 00:25:07,965
and become zealous or hot,

503
00:25:07,965 --> 00:25:11,083
and open that door that 
stands between you and Jesus,

504
00:25:11,083 --> 00:25:16,393
then your cool, your declining

505
00:25:16,393 --> 00:25:20,047
mechanical half-heated Christianity

506
00:25:20,047 --> 00:25:23,158
will be your destruction.

507
00:25:23,158 --> 00:25:25,097
And you will be vomited.

508
00:25:25,097 --> 00:25:28,504
Brethren, there's absolute urgency here.

509
00:25:28,504 --> 00:25:31,975
If you've grieved Jesus 
into closing the door

510
00:25:31,975 --> 00:25:33,497
and allowed that door to shut

511
00:25:33,497 --> 00:25:35,870
by lukewarm affections,

512
00:25:35,870 --> 00:25:39,040
there's absolute urgency 
to getting the door open,

513
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:41,345
keeping it open.

514
00:25:41,345 --> 00:25:42,890
But here's this,

515
00:25:42,890 --> 00:25:46,289
and I know Brother Kevin hit on this,

516
00:25:46,289 --> 00:25:48,211
but it bears repeating.

517
00:25:48,211 --> 00:25:50,805
The beauty in all this?

518
00:25:50,805 --> 00:25:56,242
Jesus wants us to open the door.

519
00:25:56,242 --> 00:26:01,017
Jesus, yes, oh brethren,

520
00:26:01,017 --> 00:26:03,557
are those not the most grievous times

521
00:26:03,557 --> 00:26:05,924
in our Christian life?

522
00:26:05,924 --> 00:26:07,934
I mean, I have never read

523
00:26:07,934 --> 00:26:10,016
about a Christian

524
00:26:10,016 --> 00:26:13,460
who has been face-to-face 
with the smile of Christ

525
00:26:13,460 --> 00:26:14,987
who hasn't been able to endure

526
00:26:14,987 --> 00:26:21,570
the most difficult trials in this life.

527
00:26:21,570 --> 00:26:24,575
I don't read Job saying:

528
00:26:24,575 --> 00:26:28,996
My children, my children, my children!

529
00:26:28,996 --> 00:26:32,981
You find him saying:

530
00:26:32,981 --> 00:26:36,045
I look over to the right hand.

531
00:26:36,045 --> 00:26:39,508
I can't find Him. I can't find Him!

532
00:26:39,508 --> 00:26:43,026
The smile that used to abide over my tent,

533
00:26:43,026 --> 00:26:44,692
it's gone.

534
00:26:44,692 --> 00:26:46,885
I can't find Him.

535
00:26:46,885 --> 00:26:52,592
And I'm not attributing 
to Job lukewarmness.

536
00:26:52,592 --> 00:26:56,308
But the truth is there are times

537
00:26:56,308 --> 00:26:57,870
when because of lukewarmness

538
00:26:57,870 --> 00:27:03,287
Christ goes and He hides Himself

539
00:27:03,287 --> 00:27:05,162
grieved by our coolness

540
00:27:05,162 --> 00:27:08,148
and our responses to His love.

541
00:27:08,148 --> 00:27:11,231
And He goes and He hides 
Himself behind the door.

542
00:27:11,231 --> 00:27:13,418
But the beauty in all this is this:

543
00:27:13,418 --> 00:27:22,399
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."

544
00:27:22,399 --> 00:27:23,976
What wondrous love is this!

545
00:27:23,976 --> 00:27:26,193
We're the ones that have grieved Him.

546
00:27:26,193 --> 00:27:28,312
We're the ones that have wronged Him.

547
00:27:28,312 --> 00:27:30,675
And He stands behind the door

548
00:27:30,675 --> 00:27:31,864
and He knocks.

549
00:27:31,864 --> 00:27:35,175
We're the ones in the wrong.

550
00:27:35,175 --> 00:27:43,009
Brethren, as I was just contemplating

551
00:27:43,009 --> 00:27:46,752
this whole thing,

552
00:27:46,752 --> 00:27:51,101
I look over this last half year

553
00:27:51,101 --> 00:27:55,382
and I ask myself in this weariness,

554
00:27:55,382 --> 00:27:59,513
has a lukewarmness crept in?

555
00:27:59,513 --> 00:28:01,467
And I kind of see myself,

556
00:28:01,467 --> 00:28:04,715
there's the door.

557
00:28:04,715 --> 00:28:08,527
Christ stands at the door and knocks.

558
00:28:08,527 --> 00:28:11,559
And it's like I almost envision

559
00:28:11,559 --> 00:28:17,279
a row of witnesses on both sides.

560
00:28:17,279 --> 00:28:21,847
A row here and a row here

561
00:28:21,847 --> 00:28:27,770
of witnesses to my lukewarmness.

562
00:28:27,770 --> 00:28:32,676
Think of the witnesses.

563
00:28:32,676 --> 00:28:34,684
There's your prayer closet

564
00:28:34,684 --> 00:28:38,238
or wherever it is you go.

565
00:28:38,238 --> 00:28:39,948
And it knows.

566
00:28:39,948 --> 00:28:42,955
If you're in lukewarmness, it knows.

567
00:28:42,955 --> 00:28:49,081
It's testifying.

568
00:28:49,081 --> 00:28:57,780
Oh, isn't the television a witness?

569
00:28:57,780 --> 00:29:00,134
Maybe your bed.

570
00:29:00,134 --> 00:29:04,236
How long you stay there.

571
00:29:04,236 --> 00:29:08,895
Your computer certainly is a witness.

572
00:29:08,895 --> 00:29:11,173
Your checkbook.

573
00:29:11,173 --> 00:29:14,061
That becomes a witness.

574
00:29:14,061 --> 00:29:17,814
You can walk through 
this row of witnesses.

575
00:29:17,814 --> 00:29:19,861
And the thing is if there's any witness

576
00:29:19,861 --> 00:29:23,942
above all the witnesses that 
knows of our lukewarmness,

577
00:29:23,942 --> 00:29:26,960
isn't it Christ Himself?

578
00:29:26,960 --> 00:29:29,095
If there's anybody that can bear testimony

579
00:29:29,095 --> 00:29:32,276
when we get to a place in our life

580
00:29:32,276 --> 00:29:34,796
where coolness has set in,

581
00:29:34,796 --> 00:29:37,406
where there's a backsliding of heart,

582
00:29:37,406 --> 00:29:39,048
the greatest witness of all -

583
00:29:39,048 --> 00:29:41,370
the One most wounded by it,

584
00:29:41,370 --> 00:29:45,778
the One whose Spirit 
is most grieved is Him.

585
00:29:45,778 --> 00:29:48,448
And yet for all that, brethren,

586
00:29:48,448 --> 00:29:51,426
He knocks.

587
00:29:51,426 --> 00:29:52,725
He knocks!

588
00:29:52,725 --> 00:29:59,212
Listen, I'll tell you this.

589
00:29:59,212 --> 00:30:01,608
You may find yourself like Christian

590
00:30:01,608 --> 00:30:04,423
where you're cursing yourself.

591
00:30:04,423 --> 00:30:08,489
I'm having to walk this 
same ground three times!

592
00:30:08,489 --> 00:30:10,560
But let me tell you this,

593
00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:12,388
he was able to walk it three times.

594
00:30:12,388 --> 00:30:14,366
He was able to retrace those steps.

595
00:30:14,366 --> 00:30:16,584
And that man got to glory.

596
00:30:16,584 --> 00:30:18,177
There is no ground you've lost

597
00:30:18,177 --> 00:30:21,158
that cannot be retracked and retraced.

598
00:30:21,158 --> 00:30:22,921
Not a step.

599
00:30:22,921 --> 00:30:24,111
Whatever you've lost,

600
00:30:24,111 --> 00:30:25,425
He stands there knocking

601
00:30:25,425 --> 00:30:27,766
and He's calling you 
to retrace your steps.

602
00:30:27,766 --> 00:30:29,595
Go back through that row of witnesses

603
00:30:29,595 --> 00:30:31,824
and go to that door.

604
00:30:31,824 --> 00:30:33,557
It's there.

605
00:30:33,557 --> 00:30:36,309
The fact is He stands behind that door

606
00:30:36,309 --> 00:30:39,810
not knocking like this.

607
00:30:39,810 --> 00:30:41,382
He's standing. He's ready.

608
00:30:41,382 --> 00:30:43,298
He's ready for you to lift that latch.

609
00:30:43,298 --> 00:30:46,056
He's ready to come in and embrace you

610
00:30:46,056 --> 00:30:48,203
and give you a kiss and restore you

611
00:30:48,203 --> 00:30:50,041
and put you back on that track.

612
00:30:50,041 --> 00:30:52,443
And He's facing.

613
00:30:52,443 --> 00:30:53,622
You think about it.

614
00:30:53,622 --> 00:30:57,151
I see this imagery of Him 
standing at the door

615
00:30:57,151 --> 00:30:59,456
behind which He has hid His face

616
00:30:59,456 --> 00:31:03,595
because of our resistance to His love.

617
00:31:03,595 --> 00:31:05,669
And yet all the time, He is still standing

618
00:31:05,669 --> 00:31:08,510
behind that door facing us.

619
00:31:08,510 --> 00:31:10,937
Standing.

620
00:31:10,937 --> 00:31:13,152
And ready.

621
00:31:13,152 --> 00:31:17,055
Tremendous hope after the 
cooling of our affections.

622
00:31:17,055 --> 00:31:19,817
Whatever departure that may look like.

623
00:31:19,817 --> 00:31:22,248
Wherever the child of God has backslid to,

624
00:31:22,248 --> 00:31:26,858
we are recoverable!

625
00:31:26,858 --> 00:31:28,502
We can go back and find the scroll

626
00:31:28,502 --> 00:31:30,325
and we can retrace, and even though

627
00:31:30,325 --> 00:31:32,190
here we are; we're on the same ground -

628
00:31:32,190 --> 00:31:34,373
yesterday, coming down the road,

629
00:31:34,373 --> 00:31:37,974
my wife says, "I saw a 
sign for Camp Copass."

630
00:31:37,974 --> 00:31:42,048
I said, "Which way did it say? 
What did it say?"

631
00:31:42,048 --> 00:31:43,626
She didn't know.

632
00:31:43,626 --> 00:31:45,975
So I said now we have to turn around

633
00:31:45,975 --> 00:31:47,409
and we have to go back.

634
00:31:47,409 --> 00:31:48,724
We're retracing this ground

635
00:31:48,724 --> 00:31:51,111
and then we look at Camp Copass

636
00:31:51,111 --> 00:31:55,291
and it just said two miles or whatever.

637
00:31:55,291 --> 00:31:57,606
So we turned around 
and went back retracing,

638
00:31:57,606 --> 00:31:58,742
but we got here.

639
00:31:58,742 --> 00:32:00,335
And it's the same kind of thing.

640
00:32:00,335 --> 00:32:01,482
We can go back.

641
00:32:01,482 --> 00:32:02,543
Christian went back.

642
00:32:02,543 --> 00:32:04,434
He made it to the house of Interpreter.

643
00:32:04,434 --> 00:32:07,152
He made it through all 
the trials that laid ahead

644
00:32:07,152 --> 00:32:08,683
and he got there to the gate

645
00:32:08,683 --> 00:32:10,631
and he was welcomed in and he got there.

646
00:32:10,631 --> 00:32:13,000
And Jesus is knocking for the same reason.

647
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,301
Whatever your lukewarmness,

648
00:32:14,301 --> 00:32:16,170
no matter where you've gotten to,

649
00:32:16,170 --> 00:32:19,225
that step you've lost,

650
00:32:19,225 --> 00:32:22,069
that decay that has crept in,

651
00:32:22,069 --> 00:32:25,507
whatever is gone, it is not unrecoverable.

652
00:32:25,507 --> 00:32:28,681
These steps absolutely may be retraced.

653
00:32:28,681 --> 00:32:30,811
Look, you look at your life, you say,

654
00:32:30,811 --> 00:32:32,764
"I don't have the joy I used to have."

655
00:32:32,764 --> 00:32:34,863
Jesus is knocking!

656
00:32:34,863 --> 00:32:36,399
You can retrace!

657
00:32:36,399 --> 00:32:38,667
What grace in your life 
has somehow diminished

658
00:32:38,667 --> 00:32:39,831
and somehow decayed -

659
00:32:39,831 --> 00:32:41,189
it's not where it was.

660
00:32:41,189 --> 00:32:42,638
You know.

661
00:32:42,638 --> 00:32:44,476
Some of you, you know in this place.

662
00:32:44,476 --> 00:32:47,379
I am not where I used to be.

663
00:32:47,379 --> 00:32:49,694
My prayer life is not where it was.

664
00:32:49,694 --> 00:32:50,881
That heat in my heart,

665
00:32:50,881 --> 00:32:52,630
that excitement for Christ,

666
00:32:52,630 --> 00:32:54,077
I know it's not there.

667
00:32:54,077 --> 00:32:56,108
I know a lukewarmness has crept in.

668
00:32:56,108 --> 00:32:58,687
And with Jesus knocking,

669
00:32:58,687 --> 00:33:00,694
that knock is just testifying

670
00:33:00,694 --> 00:33:03,191
to this glorious reality.

671
00:33:03,191 --> 00:33:08,674
Christian, you can retrace these things.

672
00:33:08,674 --> 00:33:11,710
God says to us in Joel 2:25,

673
00:33:11,710 --> 00:33:13,296
"I will restore to you the years

674
00:33:13,296 --> 00:33:15,260
that the swarming locust has eaten."

675
00:33:15,260 --> 00:33:16,783
Nothing eaten by the locusts

676
00:33:16,783 --> 00:33:19,155
that may not be restored, brethren!

677
00:33:19,155 --> 00:33:20,924
None.

678
00:33:20,924 --> 00:33:22,830
Christian, have you lost something?

679
00:33:22,830 --> 00:33:25,107
Jesus is knocking specifically to open

680
00:33:25,107 --> 00:33:28,095
that you might get it back.

681
00:33:28,095 --> 00:33:30,069
Lost love?

682
00:33:30,069 --> 00:33:32,776
Lost peace?

683
00:33:32,776 --> 00:33:34,593
Lost joy? Lost excitement?

684
00:33:34,593 --> 00:33:35,720
Lost tears?

685
00:33:35,720 --> 00:33:38,228
Lost sensitive conscience?

686
00:33:38,228 --> 00:33:40,295
Not one of these things has fled from you

687
00:33:40,295 --> 00:33:44,469
that can't be gotten back - not one!

688
00:33:44,469 --> 00:33:46,655
Do you not hear?

689
00:33:46,655 --> 00:33:49,290
Jesus is knocking.

690
00:33:49,290 --> 00:33:50,325
It's just tremendous.

691
00:33:50,325 --> 00:33:54,817
He actually desires to be 
admitted to our fellowship.

692
00:33:54,817 --> 00:33:58,508
Isn't this the kind of thing that we see?

693
00:33:58,508 --> 00:34:02,448
Jesus sending His apostles -

694
00:34:02,448 --> 00:34:03,957
ambassadors for Christ -

695
00:34:03,957 --> 00:34:05,892
and they're going out and they're saying

696
00:34:05,892 --> 00:34:07,993
to the Corinthians: "Be reconciled!"

697
00:34:07,993 --> 00:34:10,422
We come as ambassadors.

698
00:34:10,422 --> 00:34:11,949
Be reconciled! Come back!

699
00:34:11,949 --> 00:34:13,578
The apostle goes to the Galatians

700
00:34:13,578 --> 00:34:15,155
and he's calling them back,

701
00:34:15,155 --> 00:34:17,240
calling them back constantly.

702
00:34:17,240 --> 00:34:20,218
This is the voice of Christ 
coming through these men.

703
00:34:20,218 --> 00:34:22,635
Calling these churches back.

704
00:34:22,635 --> 00:34:23,588
Come back!

705
00:34:23,588 --> 00:34:25,075
And where is the issue?

706
00:34:25,075 --> 00:34:26,482
Where is always the issue?

707
00:34:26,482 --> 00:34:28,235
To the Galatians he says listen,

708
00:34:28,235 --> 00:34:31,442
Christ was publicly portrayed 
before you as crucified.

709
00:34:31,442 --> 00:34:33,195
Come back!

710
00:34:33,195 --> 00:34:34,286
You're falling away!

711
00:34:34,286 --> 00:34:35,497
You're fallen from grace.

712
00:34:35,497 --> 00:34:37,905
Those of you that would 
put your trust over here,

713
00:34:37,905 --> 00:34:39,658
you get your eyes off Christ

714
00:34:39,658 --> 00:34:40,947
and you're going to lose.

715
00:34:40,947 --> 00:34:42,811
You're going to lose ground.

716
00:34:42,811 --> 00:34:45,319
You're going to lose heat.
You're going to lose passion.

717
00:34:45,319 --> 00:34:47,637
You're going to lose joy.
You're going to lose love.

718
00:34:47,637 --> 00:34:51,770
You're going to lose when 
you get your eyes off.

719
00:34:51,770 --> 00:34:55,708
But there's this constant calling back.

720
00:34:55,708 --> 00:35:01,619
I mean think. Think of Peter.

721
00:35:01,619 --> 00:35:05,311
He wasn't damned in his denial.

722
00:35:05,311 --> 00:35:11,666
There's Jesus restoring, restoring.

723
00:35:11,666 --> 00:35:16,576
"Simon, son of John, do you love Me?"

724
00:35:16,576 --> 00:35:19,183
Do you hear the knock?

725
00:35:19,183 --> 00:35:25,426
That's what's being said.

726
00:35:25,426 --> 00:35:28,309
Put your own name in there.

727
00:35:28,309 --> 00:35:31,178
Do you love Me?

728
00:35:31,178 --> 00:35:34,107
Do you love Me?

729
00:35:34,107 --> 00:35:35,698
This is what He wants.

730
00:35:35,698 --> 00:35:37,909
This is what He wants from His people.

731
00:35:37,909 --> 00:35:39,762
That's what that knock communicates:

732
00:35:39,762 --> 00:35:42,102
Do you love Me?

733
00:35:42,102 --> 00:35:44,129
I mean, listen, you find things like this.

734
00:35:44,129 --> 00:35:46,168
When you read through the Old Testament,

735
00:35:46,168 --> 00:35:49,174
don't let verses like this just go by.

736
00:35:49,174 --> 00:35:51,391
What a communication of the heart of God!

737
00:35:51,391 --> 00:35:52,828
Jeremiah 31:20,

738
00:35:52,828 --> 00:35:56,002
"Is Ephraim My dear son?

739
00:35:56,002 --> 00:35:57,695
Is he My darling child?

740
00:35:57,695 --> 00:35:59,550
For as often as I speak against him,

741
00:35:59,550 --> 00:36:01,159
I do remember him still.

742
00:36:01,159 --> 00:36:03,284
Therefore My heart yearns for him.

743
00:36:03,284 --> 00:36:06,551
I will surely have mercy on 
Him declares the Lord."

744
00:36:06,551 --> 00:36:08,504
Can you discern a yearning heart

745
00:36:08,504 --> 00:36:10,878
behind that door as Jesus knocks?

746
00:36:10,878 --> 00:36:13,768
You know what the devil 
comes along and tells you?

747
00:36:13,768 --> 00:36:16,629
"Look at you.

748
00:36:16,629 --> 00:36:18,951
You're back there at the arbor.

749
00:36:18,951 --> 00:36:21,996
You slept.

750
00:36:21,996 --> 00:36:25,409
Jesus doesn't want 
anything to do with you.

751
00:36:25,409 --> 00:36:27,324
What do you think you're doing?"

752
00:36:27,324 --> 00:36:29,928
But since when does a knock mean

753
00:36:29,928 --> 00:36:32,699
Jesus doesn't want 
anything to do with me?

754
00:36:32,699 --> 00:36:36,724
Doesn't a knock tell you He 
wants everything to do with you?

755
00:36:36,724 --> 00:36:38,779
The devil's going to come and slander.

756
00:36:38,779 --> 00:36:41,183
The devil's going to come 
and tell you everything,

757
00:36:41,183 --> 00:36:42,948
that you've gotten into this place

758
00:36:42,948 --> 00:36:44,849
and Christ doesn't want to see your face

759
00:36:44,849 --> 00:36:46,997
and you better do penance!

760
00:36:46,997 --> 00:36:50,312
Go do penance!

761
00:36:50,312 --> 00:36:52,791
You better go beat yourself up enough

762
00:36:52,791 --> 00:36:55,758
before you dare come back to His throne.

763
00:36:55,758 --> 00:37:00,998
And Jesus is saying, "Come. Open."

764
00:37:00,998 --> 00:37:03,540
He's knocking.

765
00:37:03,540 --> 00:37:07,018
Brethren, He knocks.

766
00:37:07,018 --> 00:37:08,657
Since when does knocking mean:

767
00:37:08,657 --> 00:37:14,977
please don't come to the door?

768
00:37:14,977 --> 00:37:16,816
Look, talk that way to yourself.

769
00:37:16,816 --> 00:37:18,208
Talk that way to the devil.

770
00:37:18,208 --> 00:37:20,336
He's knocking!

771
00:37:20,336 --> 00:37:23,544
The knock of Jesus is pure invitation.

772
00:37:23,544 --> 00:37:26,312
It's a trumpet call of His desire

773
00:37:26,312 --> 00:37:29,169
to be admitted by you,

774
00:37:29,169 --> 00:37:31,584
that He might come and sup - intimacy!

775
00:37:31,584 --> 00:37:33,689
Wrap His arms...

776
00:37:33,689 --> 00:37:37,115
I mean, the intimacy of 
the Song of Solomon

777
00:37:37,115 --> 00:37:42,447
is just tremendous.

778
00:37:42,447 --> 00:37:46,028
But the question of the hour:

779
00:37:46,028 --> 00:37:48,811
How do I get the door open?

780
00:37:48,811 --> 00:37:52,842
How do we escape this cursed lukewarmness?

781
00:37:52,842 --> 00:37:55,876
Well, apparently, by opening the door.

782
00:37:55,876 --> 00:37:57,315
That's why Jesus is knocking.

783
00:37:57,315 --> 00:38:02,118
But how do I get the blasted thing open?

784
00:38:02,118 --> 00:38:06,199
Well, notice how Revelation 3:20 reads.

785
00:38:06,199 --> 00:38:14,037
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."

786
00:38:14,037 --> 00:38:15,328
But then He does not say:

787
00:38:15,328 --> 00:38:17,121
"if anyone hears My knock and opens,

788
00:38:17,121 --> 00:38:18,327
I will come in to him."

789
00:38:18,327 --> 00:38:21,325
He says rather this:

790
00:38:21,325 --> 00:38:22,943
"I stand at the door and knock.

791
00:38:22,943 --> 00:38:27,911
If anyone hears My voice and opens."

792
00:38:27,911 --> 00:38:30,304
He's knocking - yes, but you know what?

793
00:38:30,304 --> 00:38:31,695
He's also behind that door

794
00:38:31,695 --> 00:38:34,297
and He's speaking.

795
00:38:34,297 --> 00:38:35,518
He's saying something.

796
00:38:35,518 --> 00:38:36,707
What's He saying?

797
00:38:36,707 --> 00:38:39,112
Because listen, if we 
listen to what He's saying,

798
00:38:39,112 --> 00:38:43,359
He might be telling us exactly 
how to get the door open!

799
00:38:43,359 --> 00:38:47,507
What's He saying?

800
00:38:47,507 --> 00:38:53,458
Well, I can see three 
things He's telling us.

801
00:38:53,458 --> 00:38:55,617
One, in v. 14, He's certainly telling us

802
00:38:55,617 --> 00:38:57,536
who's at the door, right?

803
00:38:57,536 --> 00:38:59,888
He's the Amen. He is the yes of God.

804
00:38:59,888 --> 00:39:04,189
He is God's great confirmation to truth.

805
00:39:04,189 --> 00:39:05,841
Amen!

806
00:39:05,841 --> 00:39:07,971
He is the One who's Faithful and True.

807
00:39:07,971 --> 00:39:10,815
Brethren, I'll tell you 
what, that's good for us.

808
00:39:10,815 --> 00:39:12,165
The mighty Amen of God

809
00:39:12,165 --> 00:39:13,811
is on the other side of the door

810
00:39:13,811 --> 00:39:16,538
and that contrasts 
against our often wavering,

811
00:39:16,538 --> 00:39:18,739
prone to wandering ways.

812
00:39:18,739 --> 00:39:20,851
He's solid. He's steadfast. He's firm.

813
00:39:20,851 --> 00:39:22,849
That's the first thing He tells us:

814
00:39:22,849 --> 00:39:24,597
who's on the other side of the door.

815
00:39:24,597 --> 00:39:27,538
The second thing He says is

816
00:39:27,538 --> 00:39:29,321
He tells us about the crime.

817
00:39:29,321 --> 00:39:31,034
He's certainly speaking about that.

818
00:39:31,034 --> 00:39:32,864
Lukewarm - neither hot nor cold.

819
00:39:32,864 --> 00:39:37,080
He says more than just that however.

820
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,118
He doesn't just say lukewarm.

821
00:39:40,118 --> 00:39:41,847
You can see that He wants to give us

822
00:39:41,847 --> 00:39:46,837
the very essence of what lukewarmness is.

823
00:39:46,837 --> 00:39:49,296
Look at v. 17.

824
00:39:49,296 --> 00:39:56,142
"You say 'I am rich. I have prospered,

825
00:39:56,142 --> 00:39:59,642
and I need nothing.'"

826
00:39:59,642 --> 00:40:05,477
Isn't that exactly the 
essence of lukewarmness?

827
00:40:05,477 --> 00:40:10,020
Lord, I don't need You.

828
00:40:10,020 --> 00:40:12,122
Someone might say, hey, wait a second!

829
00:40:12,122 --> 00:40:13,935
Can a true Christian really be called

830
00:40:13,935 --> 00:40:18,127
"wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, naked"?

831
00:40:18,127 --> 00:40:21,606
You know what I find in Scripture?

832
00:40:21,606 --> 00:40:24,808
When the true Christian

833
00:40:24,808 --> 00:40:29,818
acts like a lost man,

834
00:40:29,818 --> 00:40:37,046
lost language is often thrown out there.

835
00:40:37,046 --> 00:40:39,495
Can you remember when Christ comes down

836
00:40:39,495 --> 00:40:42,420
off the Mount of Transfiguration?

837
00:40:42,420 --> 00:40:46,609
Matthew's account of that in Matthew 17?

838
00:40:46,609 --> 00:40:49,283
His disciples were trying 
to cast out that demon

839
00:40:49,283 --> 00:40:50,980
that was in that young man -

840
00:40:50,980 --> 00:40:54,288
throwing him in the fire, 
throwing him in the water.

841
00:40:54,288 --> 00:40:55,777
And when Jesus comes there

842
00:40:55,777 --> 00:41:02,718
and He finds that they 
weren't able to throw it out,

843
00:41:02,718 --> 00:41:06,228
do you know what He calls His disciples?

844
00:41:06,228 --> 00:41:08,168
Perverted.

845
00:41:08,168 --> 00:41:10,092
Twisted.

846
00:41:10,092 --> 00:41:13,056
This is the same way the apostle 
speaks to the Galatians.

847
00:41:13,056 --> 00:41:14,366
Similar language.

848
00:41:14,366 --> 00:41:17,698
He says "fallen from grace."

849
00:41:17,698 --> 00:41:21,208
"You did run well."

850
00:41:21,208 --> 00:41:23,122
He uses this kind of terminology.

851
00:41:23,122 --> 00:41:25,758
You see, when a saved person -

852
00:41:25,758 --> 00:41:27,902
even if they're saved 
(incomplete thought).

853
00:41:27,902 --> 00:41:29,352
Now it may be true, listen,

854
00:41:29,352 --> 00:41:31,168
at Laodicea I don't doubt

855
00:41:31,168 --> 00:41:36,268
whether there were tares in there.

856
00:41:36,268 --> 00:41:40,118
But when the believer begins to act lost,

857
00:41:40,118 --> 00:41:42,139
he begins to get this kind of language.

858
00:41:42,139 --> 00:41:43,387
And I'll tell you this,

859
00:41:43,387 --> 00:41:45,652
whether you're outside of Christ -

860
00:41:45,652 --> 00:41:48,163
if you're outside of Christ, you are poor

861
00:41:48,163 --> 00:41:50,568
and you are pitiable,

862
00:41:50,568 --> 00:41:53,246
and you are all these descriptive terms.

863
00:41:53,246 --> 00:41:55,718
But I'll tell you this, 
even if you're a Christian

864
00:41:55,718 --> 00:41:58,433
and you stop taking your sustenance

865
00:41:58,433 --> 00:42:00,400
and your sufficiency from Christ

866
00:42:00,400 --> 00:42:02,639
and turn aside to 
take it from other places,

867
00:42:02,639 --> 00:42:07,544
you become just that wretched.

868
00:42:07,544 --> 00:42:11,999
Because without Christ, we're nothing.

869
00:42:11,999 --> 00:42:13,978
We're all those things.

870
00:42:13,978 --> 00:42:15,501
And the true child of God

871
00:42:15,501 --> 00:42:16,932
when he turns away

872
00:42:16,932 --> 00:42:18,658
and he resorts to the very things

873
00:42:18,658 --> 00:42:21,938
that the lost around us resort to...

874
00:42:21,938 --> 00:42:23,860
Listen, I believe that there definitely

875
00:42:23,860 --> 00:42:25,949
were Christians in this mix.

876
00:42:25,949 --> 00:42:27,839
I believe it because over in Colossians

877
00:42:27,839 --> 00:42:30,069
there were brothers and 
Paul addresses them.

878
00:42:30,069 --> 00:42:33,449
Now I realize Revelation 3 came later

879
00:42:33,449 --> 00:42:36,497
than Colossians 4.

880
00:42:36,497 --> 00:42:38,303
But there were brothers at that time.

881
00:42:38,303 --> 00:42:39,999
And what I find over in Revelation

882
00:42:39,999 --> 00:42:43,131
is that this is still one 
of the Lord's candlesticks

883
00:42:43,131 --> 00:42:45,449
among whom He walks.

884
00:42:45,449 --> 00:42:47,939
I find that the angel 
of that church is still a star

885
00:42:47,939 --> 00:42:50,658
that's held in His right hand.

886
00:42:50,658 --> 00:42:52,797
And I find there in v. 19

887
00:42:52,797 --> 00:42:59,067
that He says, "Those whom I love..."

888
00:42:59,067 --> 00:43:02,093
Yeah, maybe there were a 
good deal of lost folks there,

889
00:43:02,093 --> 00:43:04,389
but there were some real ones.

890
00:43:04,389 --> 00:43:06,357
And when you start acting that way,

891
00:43:06,357 --> 00:43:08,667
brethren, isn't this the very heart of it?

892
00:43:08,667 --> 00:43:12,009
This is where the lukewarmness comes.

893
00:43:12,009 --> 00:43:14,768
Because what happens is just like 
Mason was talking about.

894
00:43:14,768 --> 00:43:16,398
You walk out of here and you say,

895
00:43:16,398 --> 00:43:18,497
"Oh, isn't this great?

896
00:43:18,497 --> 00:43:20,343
We're all pumped up!"

897
00:43:20,343 --> 00:43:22,718
But you see, as soon as your gaze

898
00:43:22,718 --> 00:43:24,069
comes off Christ and you say

899
00:43:24,069 --> 00:43:30,189
I'm going to live on 
the high that I got there,

900
00:43:30,189 --> 00:43:33,668
the manna molders

901
00:43:33,668 --> 00:43:37,967
and it becomes something 
detestable to Christ.

902
00:43:37,967 --> 00:43:41,269
Christ isn't pleased if you go out of here

903
00:43:41,269 --> 00:43:43,460
and your mind is set 
on one of the preachers

904
00:43:43,460 --> 00:43:44,915
or one of the sermons

905
00:43:44,915 --> 00:43:49,802
or on the conference as a whole.

906
00:43:49,802 --> 00:43:54,488
But if you go out with 
your eyes set on Christ,

907
00:43:54,488 --> 00:43:56,518
if the joy there is in Him,

908
00:43:56,518 --> 00:43:58,277
and you go out and you're determined

909
00:43:58,277 --> 00:44:00,107
I'm going to wake up tomorrow not to live

910
00:44:00,107 --> 00:44:01,991
and feast off of that old stuff,

911
00:44:01,991 --> 00:44:02,980
but I'm going to go out

912
00:44:02,980 --> 00:44:04,344
and I'm going to find Christ.

913
00:44:04,344 --> 00:44:07,798
Listen, when we get dependent,

914
00:44:07,798 --> 00:44:09,538
when we get satisfied -

915
00:44:09,538 --> 00:44:11,249
and this is what happens.

916
00:44:11,249 --> 00:44:15,318
This is what happens, brethren.

917
00:44:15,318 --> 00:44:20,878
This horrible, self-sufficiency.

918
00:44:20,878 --> 00:44:28,916
It's the fatal danger 
in the lukewarm state.

919
00:44:28,916 --> 00:44:37,680
Well, brethren, we get 
very strong language here.

920
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:42,807
He's calling them to hear their voice.

921
00:44:42,807 --> 00:44:44,702
We get to the place where we

922
00:44:44,702 --> 00:44:47,357
live our life like we don't need Him.

923
00:44:47,357 --> 00:44:50,124
We become self-confident.

924
00:44:50,124 --> 00:44:52,865
We become forgetful of the way

925
00:44:52,865 --> 00:44:54,103
that we really are -

926
00:44:54,103 --> 00:44:56,149
satisfied in that;

927
00:44:56,149 --> 00:44:59,027
spiritual self-satisfaction.

928
00:44:59,027 --> 00:45:05,429
It's always the poison 
behind lukewarmness.

929
00:45:05,429 --> 00:45:08,546
So there, He tells us who He is.

930
00:45:08,546 --> 00:45:11,229
He tells us about the crime committed.

931
00:45:11,229 --> 00:45:17,199
And He tells us what to do.

932
00:45:17,199 --> 00:45:20,159
V. 18 is all about the cure.

933
00:45:20,159 --> 00:45:24,082
He says, "Buy from Me."

934
00:45:24,082 --> 00:45:26,557
"Buy from Me."

935
00:45:26,557 --> 00:45:29,450
"Come to Me for your needs."

936
00:45:29,450 --> 00:45:32,508
"I have riches. I have righteousness.

937
00:45:32,508 --> 00:45:35,559
I have wisdom.

938
00:45:35,559 --> 00:45:36,998
Come to Me.

939
00:45:36,998 --> 00:45:38,698
I'll give you eyes to see.

940
00:45:38,698 --> 00:45:40,620
I'll give you the true riches.

941
00:45:40,620 --> 00:45:42,510
I'll clothe you in such a way

942
00:45:42,510 --> 00:45:45,440
that you can't clothe yourself.

943
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:47,230
You need what I have to give you

944
00:45:47,230 --> 00:45:49,329
to become what you need to become.

945
00:45:49,329 --> 00:45:50,609
Come to Me."

946
00:45:50,609 --> 00:45:52,755
He's saying, "Repent!"

947
00:45:52,755 --> 00:45:55,939
Brethren, how quick we become forgetful

948
00:45:55,939 --> 00:45:57,669
of our perfect weakness.

949
00:45:57,669 --> 00:46:02,488
(incomplete thought)

950
00:46:02,488 --> 00:46:04,867
Weakness - brethren, we are weakness.

951
00:46:04,867 --> 00:46:06,247
We are all weakness.

952
00:46:06,247 --> 00:46:08,210
We are nothing but weakness.

953
00:46:08,210 --> 00:46:10,145
Listen, if that were not true,

954
00:46:10,145 --> 00:46:11,578
Jesus would have never said,

955
00:46:11,578 --> 00:46:13,339
"Without Me you can do nothing."

956
00:46:13,339 --> 00:46:17,036
Self-confidence is the natural product

957
00:46:17,036 --> 00:46:21,512
of our cursed apostate race.

958
00:46:21,512 --> 00:46:25,540
It's that desire to live and think and 
act independently of God.

959
00:46:25,540 --> 00:46:27,798
And in Christians, brethren, how is it?

960
00:46:27,798 --> 00:46:31,668
It becomes this cool slow-down, right?

961
00:46:31,668 --> 00:46:34,986
It's just like the missionary 
was talking about.

962
00:46:34,986 --> 00:46:37,808
We get to the place where we 
want to just prop up our feet.

963
00:46:37,808 --> 00:46:39,096
You get to the place where:

964
00:46:39,096 --> 00:46:41,704
No! I don't want to have the prostitute

965
00:46:41,704 --> 00:46:43,341
come live in my house

966
00:46:43,341 --> 00:46:44,858
because it brings baggage

967
00:46:44,858 --> 00:46:46,280
and I'm worn out.

968
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:48,433
And I want a place of oasis.

969
00:46:48,433 --> 00:46:49,888
And yes, I see Jesus

970
00:46:49,888 --> 00:46:51,638
and I see when He was worn out

971
00:46:51,638 --> 00:46:54,187
He still had time for the Samaritans.

972
00:46:54,187 --> 00:46:56,137
When He would go out into the wilderness

973
00:46:56,137 --> 00:46:57,642
and then the crowds would come,

974
00:46:57,642 --> 00:46:59,943
He'd heal all! He'd cast out demons.

975
00:46:59,943 --> 00:47:02,883
And then He'd made bread to feed them all.

976
00:47:02,883 --> 00:47:06,452
And when He was worn out, He kept going.

977
00:47:06,452 --> 00:47:09,915
And He kept drawing from His Father.

978
00:47:09,915 --> 00:47:11,523
And we get to where we're wearied

979
00:47:11,523 --> 00:47:13,620
and we feel just justified.

980
00:47:13,620 --> 00:47:19,766
Lord, I just need to step out 
of the race for a little bit.

981
00:47:19,766 --> 00:47:22,703
And you know how it becomes.

982
00:47:22,703 --> 00:47:25,775
You can start to live on the past.

983
00:47:25,775 --> 00:47:27,643
And you can become very satisfied.

984
00:47:27,643 --> 00:47:30,822
And I'll tell you, you start living
on the victories of the past,

985
00:47:30,822 --> 00:47:33,982
you start living on the 
conversions of yesterday,

986
00:47:33,982 --> 00:47:36,361
the blessings of God yesterday,

987
00:47:36,361 --> 00:47:40,782
see, that's really becoming 
very self-satisfied,

988
00:47:40,782 --> 00:47:42,362
self-sufficient.

989
00:47:42,362 --> 00:47:44,374
We're living on the past glories

990
00:47:44,374 --> 00:47:47,327
and we don't have to 
look to Christ right now.

991
00:47:47,327 --> 00:47:49,503
You know, brethren, 
when we live all the time

992
00:47:49,503 --> 00:47:51,751
where we're dependent and we're needy

993
00:47:51,751 --> 00:47:53,002
and we're needing to go to Him,

994
00:47:53,002 --> 00:47:54,291
and we're having to live by faith

995
00:47:54,291 --> 00:47:55,552
and we're always on that edge,

996
00:47:55,552 --> 00:47:57,551
we just don't know - 
He's telling us to step

997
00:47:57,551 --> 00:47:59,449
and we can't see any ground there.

998
00:47:59,449 --> 00:48:01,982
And you step and it's like ok I did that,

999
00:48:01,982 --> 00:48:04,824
now, Lord, let me go to sleep.

1000
00:48:04,824 --> 00:48:09,865
And we have a life to live, a race to run.

1001
00:48:09,865 --> 00:48:13,461
Can you imagine these Laocideans

1002
00:48:13,461 --> 00:48:15,271
looking down their nose

1003
00:48:15,271 --> 00:48:19,131
at churches like Smyrna?

1004
00:48:19,131 --> 00:48:21,581
Oh, look at them. They're poor.

1005
00:48:21,581 --> 00:48:23,397
We've got a lot more than they do.

1006
00:48:23,397 --> 00:48:26,614
And yet Jesus looks at 
them and says they're rich.

1007
00:48:26,614 --> 00:48:27,940
Or looking down their nose

1008
00:48:27,940 --> 00:48:30,912
at those at Philadelphia.

1009
00:48:30,912 --> 00:48:32,982
He basically speaks about their weakness,

1010
00:48:32,982 --> 00:48:34,432
their not having much power.

1011
00:48:34,432 --> 00:48:37,894
And yet there was this effectual 
door that was opened.

1012
00:48:37,894 --> 00:48:39,655
When we become dependent,

1013
00:48:39,655 --> 00:48:41,482
though our numbers be small,

1014
00:48:41,482 --> 00:48:43,265
though our gifts be few,

1015
00:48:43,265 --> 00:48:45,305
when we're looking to Christ,

1016
00:48:45,305 --> 00:48:47,777
God of the impossible.

1017
00:48:47,777 --> 00:48:50,122
Hearing about that last night.

1018
00:48:50,122 --> 00:48:51,872
The God of the impossible.

1019
00:48:51,872 --> 00:48:53,691
Ninety-year-old women give birth

1020
00:48:53,691 --> 00:48:57,971
when we start looking to Christ.

1021
00:48:57,971 --> 00:48:59,640
We need that.

1022
00:48:59,640 --> 00:49:01,612
We need that in our churches.

1023
00:49:01,612 --> 00:49:05,092
We need 90 year old women giving birth.

1024
00:49:05,092 --> 00:49:09,114
And whatever that 
looks like in our context.

1025
00:49:09,114 --> 00:49:14,752
Tozer - listen to what he says.

1026
00:49:14,752 --> 00:49:18,231
"Religious history shows two phases:

1027
00:49:18,231 --> 00:49:21,833
the dynamic and the static.

1028
00:49:21,833 --> 00:49:24,531
The dynamic periods 
were those heroic times

1029
00:49:24,531 --> 00:49:26,431
when God's people stirred themselves

1030
00:49:26,431 --> 00:49:27,805
to do the Lord's bidding;

1031
00:49:27,805 --> 00:49:30,512
went out fearlessly to carry His witness

1032
00:49:30,512 --> 00:49:32,703
to the world.

1033
00:49:32,703 --> 00:49:35,023
They exchanged the safety of inaction

1034
00:49:35,023 --> 00:49:39,282
for the hazards of God-inspired progress.

1035
00:49:39,282 --> 00:49:43,241
Invariably, the power of God 
followed such action.

1036
00:49:43,241 --> 00:49:46,914
The miracle of God went when 
and where His people went.

1037
00:49:46,914 --> 00:49:50,410
It stayed when His people stopped.

1038
00:49:50,410 --> 00:49:52,455
The static periods were those times

1039
00:49:52,455 --> 00:49:57,471
when the people of God 
tired of the struggle

1040
00:49:57,471 --> 00:50:01,753
and sought a life of peace and security.

1041
00:50:01,753 --> 00:50:03,311
Then they busied themselves

1042
00:50:03,311 --> 00:50:05,048
trying to conserve the gains made

1043
00:50:05,048 --> 00:50:07,101
in those more daring times

1044
00:50:07,101 --> 00:50:09,642
when the power of God 
moved among them.

1045
00:50:09,642 --> 00:50:14,701
God works as long as 
His people live daringly.

1046
00:50:14,701 --> 00:50:19,058
He ceases when they 
no longer need His aid."

1047
00:50:19,058 --> 00:50:20,321
You see it?

1048
00:50:20,321 --> 00:50:23,352
They no longer need Him.

1049
00:50:23,352 --> 00:50:26,514
They're not desperate.

1050
00:50:26,514 --> 00:50:28,091
It's what we need, brethren -

1051
00:50:28,091 --> 00:50:33,788
we need a restoration of desperation.

1052
00:50:33,788 --> 00:50:36,883
"Look around today," Tozer says.

1053
00:50:36,883 --> 00:50:39,660
"...And see where the miracles 
of power are taking place.

1054
00:50:39,660 --> 00:50:41,551
Never in the religious institution

1055
00:50:41,551 --> 00:50:43,512
where tradition and habit have long ago

1056
00:50:43,512 --> 00:50:45,021
made faith unnecessary.

1057
00:50:45,021 --> 00:50:46,551
Never in the old church

1058
00:50:46,551 --> 00:50:49,387
where memorial tablets 
plastered over the furniture

1059
00:50:49,387 --> 00:50:53,739
bear silent testimony to 
a glory that once was.

1060
00:50:53,739 --> 00:50:59,029
Invariably, where daring 
faith is struggling

1061
00:50:59,029 --> 00:51:01,390
to advance against hopeless odds,

1062
00:51:01,390 --> 00:51:04,141
there is God sending down 
help from the sanctuary.

1063
00:51:04,141 --> 00:51:07,630
The power of God is always 
hovered over our frontiers.

1064
00:51:07,630 --> 00:51:09,840
Miracles have accompanied our advances

1065
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,071
and have ceased when and where

1066
00:51:12,071 --> 00:51:15,583
we allowed ourselves to become satisfied."

1067
00:51:15,583 --> 00:51:17,672
Satisfied will kill us, brethren.

1068
00:51:17,672 --> 00:51:18,961
It kills us.

1069
00:51:18,961 --> 00:51:21,781
When we're desperate -

1070
00:51:21,781 --> 00:51:23,380
Lord, come in!

1071
00:51:23,380 --> 00:51:24,922
When we're desperate to go over

1072
00:51:24,922 --> 00:51:27,640
and go throw off that latch...

1073
00:51:27,640 --> 00:51:29,211
Lord, we need You.

1074
00:51:29,211 --> 00:51:31,744
We begin to see ourselves:

1075
00:51:31,744 --> 00:51:33,281
Without You we're poor.

1076
00:51:33,281 --> 00:51:34,690
Without You we're wretched.

1077
00:51:34,690 --> 00:51:36,352
Without You we can't do anything.

1078
00:51:36,352 --> 00:51:38,986
Without You we're going to die.

1079
00:51:38,986 --> 00:51:40,801
Without You it's all going to grow old

1080
00:51:40,801 --> 00:51:42,040
and moldy and stale

1081
00:51:42,040 --> 00:51:43,861
and we're just going to coast through

1082
00:51:43,861 --> 00:51:45,017
the rest of our days.

1083
00:51:45,017 --> 00:51:46,271
Not like the Apostle Paul

1084
00:51:46,271 --> 00:51:47,822
who as he's getting near the end

1085
00:51:47,822 --> 00:51:49,360
says, "I fought the good fight."

1086
00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:51,139
And he ran hard all the way to the end.

1087
00:51:51,139 --> 00:51:52,362
Christ was precious to him.

1088
00:51:52,362 --> 00:51:55,102
Just overwhelmed right up to the end

1089
00:51:55,102 --> 00:51:58,842
that He loved me and 
He gave Himself for me.

1090
00:51:58,842 --> 00:52:00,105
Not running out of gas

1091
00:52:00,105 --> 00:52:03,282
halfway through the race.

1092
00:52:03,282 --> 00:52:07,362
Brethren, when we don't need 
Him any longer, we're in trouble.

1093
00:52:07,362 --> 00:52:11,212
We desperately, desperately need Him.

1094
00:52:11,212 --> 00:52:12,923
Desperation.

1095
00:52:12,923 --> 00:52:14,504
Brethren, there's something

1096
00:52:14,504 --> 00:52:19,331
in that Canaanite woman of old who said,

1097
00:52:19,331 --> 00:52:22,222
"Lord, my daughter..."

1098
00:52:22,222 --> 00:52:26,145
Silence.

1099
00:52:26,145 --> 00:52:28,748
She's desperate.

1100
00:52:28,748 --> 00:52:31,222
I've got to have Him.

1101
00:52:31,222 --> 00:52:35,691
If I don't get through to Him...

1102
00:52:35,691 --> 00:52:37,831
Then there's the disciples.

1103
00:52:37,831 --> 00:52:40,402
Tell her to go away.

1104
00:52:40,402 --> 00:52:41,511
There's silence now.

1105
00:52:41,511 --> 00:52:45,935
The followers of Christ are saying... 
(incomplete thought).

1106
00:52:45,935 --> 00:52:49,741
And then He's saying My 
mission isn't even to you.

1107
00:52:49,741 --> 00:52:54,221
And then He calls her a dog.

1108
00:52:54,221 --> 00:52:57,380
Brethren, there's a woman that 
knows what she needed.

1109
00:52:57,380 --> 00:52:58,915
She needed Christ.

1110
00:52:58,915 --> 00:53:02,352
What she needed was in Him.

1111
00:53:02,352 --> 00:53:04,971
Brethren, lukewarmness sets in

1112
00:53:04,971 --> 00:53:06,350
and suddenly we go to sleep.

1113
00:53:06,350 --> 00:53:08,281
We don't see our need of Him.

1114
00:53:08,281 --> 00:53:12,052
All of a sudden, we're 
not so desperate any more.

1115
00:53:12,052 --> 00:53:13,351
Suddenly, we're not so aware

1116
00:53:13,351 --> 00:53:15,321
that if we go to the 
prayer meeting tonight

1117
00:53:15,321 --> 00:53:16,881
and God doesn't come 
and He doesn't help

1118
00:53:16,881 --> 00:53:20,813
and if Christ isn't there,

1119
00:53:20,813 --> 00:53:24,956
we're not going to be heard.

1120
00:53:24,956 --> 00:53:29,233
If we come with these cold hearts,

1121
00:53:29,233 --> 00:53:30,379
if we come unbroken,

1122
00:53:30,379 --> 00:53:32,132
if we come where there's this sin,

1123
00:53:32,132 --> 00:53:35,851
we haven't confessed it.

1124
00:53:35,851 --> 00:53:39,066
If you think that's fiction,

1125
00:53:39,066 --> 00:53:42,304
listen, Peter says that your relationship

1126
00:53:42,304 --> 00:53:44,512
men with your wives 
ought to be a certain way

1127
00:53:44,512 --> 00:53:47,002
that your prayers be not hindered.

1128
00:53:47,002 --> 00:53:48,217
We begin to lose that.

1129
00:53:48,217 --> 00:53:50,360
Lord, help me to live right with my wife.

1130
00:53:50,360 --> 00:53:52,860
Help us - no prayers hindered here

1131
00:53:52,860 --> 00:53:54,469
where we're just desperate.

1132
00:53:54,469 --> 00:53:55,811
But we become cold.

1133
00:53:55,811 --> 00:53:57,313
We become very relaxed.

1134
00:53:57,313 --> 00:54:00,072
We had to trust Him like that yesterday.

1135
00:54:00,072 --> 00:54:02,102
And God's increased the church size

1136
00:54:02,102 --> 00:54:05,111
or He's brought some 
salvation into our midst.

1137
00:54:05,111 --> 00:54:06,838
And we've become content with that

1138
00:54:06,838 --> 00:54:08,965
when the world is still 
perishing out there.

1139
00:54:08,965 --> 00:54:11,031
The devil is just as real.

1140
00:54:11,031 --> 00:54:12,369
He's against us.

1141
00:54:12,369 --> 00:54:15,227
And if there's anything that 
you can tell about the devil,

1142
00:54:15,227 --> 00:54:17,322
he doesn't care if you have 
all the doctrines of grace

1143
00:54:17,322 --> 00:54:18,602
and you're these great Calvinists

1144
00:54:18,602 --> 00:54:20,042
and they have all this reformed stuff.

1145
00:54:20,042 --> 00:54:22,956
All he cares about is you go to sleep.

1146
00:54:22,956 --> 00:54:24,522
Have whatever doctrine you want.

1147
00:54:24,522 --> 00:54:27,972
Just fall asleep and don't need Christ.

1148
00:54:27,972 --> 00:54:29,704
And he will seek to distract

1149
00:54:29,704 --> 00:54:32,252
and turn your gaze off of Him.

1150
00:54:32,252 --> 00:54:34,201
You're too weary.

1151
00:54:34,201 --> 00:54:36,990
It's good. You need a rest.

1152
00:54:36,990 --> 00:54:39,411
And then what happens is 
you wake up like Christian

1153
00:54:39,411 --> 00:54:43,281
and he realized, wait,

1154
00:54:43,281 --> 00:54:47,491
I was only supposed to rest here a second.

1155
00:54:47,491 --> 00:54:49,233
And I've lost all this time

1156
00:54:49,233 --> 00:54:50,902
and also lost other things

1157
00:54:50,902 --> 00:54:54,001
that I didn't even realize I lost.

1158
00:54:54,001 --> 00:54:56,851
He lost his scroll.

1159
00:54:56,851 --> 00:54:58,642
And not only did he lose the time,

1160
00:54:58,642 --> 00:55:00,388
now he's got to retrace all his paths

1161
00:55:00,388 --> 00:55:02,241
and he loses that much more time.

1162
00:55:02,241 --> 00:55:07,253
Brethren, desperation.

1163
00:55:07,253 --> 00:55:10,641
I'm wrapping this up,

1164
00:55:10,641 --> 00:55:13,102
but I want to come down to this.

1165
00:55:13,102 --> 00:55:16,402
You can pretty much lay it down.

1166
00:55:16,402 --> 00:55:21,180
You can take your spiritual temperature

1167
00:55:21,180 --> 00:55:24,104
as to whether you have

1168
00:55:24,104 --> 00:55:28,074
a desperation in your heart for Christ

1169
00:55:28,074 --> 00:55:29,528
right here.

1170
00:55:29,528 --> 00:55:35,512
If there is anything that 
will reveal lukewarmness,

1171
00:55:35,512 --> 00:55:37,552
it's your prayer life.

1172
00:55:37,552 --> 00:55:39,583
If there is anything,

1173
00:55:39,583 --> 00:55:41,582
if anything is a dead giveaway

1174
00:55:41,582 --> 00:55:43,821
to self-complacency, self-confidence,

1175
00:55:43,821 --> 00:55:46,482
self-sufficiency, it's right here.

1176
00:55:46,482 --> 00:55:47,716
True prayer, brethren.

1177
00:55:47,716 --> 00:55:50,012
In prayer, there's desperation.

1178
00:55:50,012 --> 00:55:52,931
There's pleading like this woman.

1179
00:55:52,931 --> 00:55:54,843
You remember the two blind men?

1180
00:55:54,843 --> 00:55:56,109
"Son of David!"

1181
00:55:56,109 --> 00:55:58,884
People are saying you guys 
are just an annoyance.

1182
00:55:58,884 --> 00:56:00,419
Be quiet!

1183
00:56:00,419 --> 00:56:01,395
And they need Him.

1184
00:56:01,395 --> 00:56:03,812
They're going to get to 
Him no matter what.

1185
00:56:03,812 --> 00:56:05,880
Brethren, I don't care what it costs us,

1186
00:56:05,880 --> 00:56:07,355
what other people think of us,

1187
00:56:07,355 --> 00:56:08,532
we need to be desperate.

1188
00:56:08,532 --> 00:56:10,551
We need to be going there.

1189
00:56:10,551 --> 00:56:12,443
Be all done with the moderation!

1190
00:56:12,443 --> 00:56:14,891
The world's going to tell 
you that's what's needed.

1191
00:56:14,891 --> 00:56:16,960
Your lost parents, family members

1192
00:56:16,960 --> 00:56:18,930
are going to tell you 
that's what's needed.

1193
00:56:18,930 --> 00:56:22,442
That is not what's needed!

1194
00:56:22,442 --> 00:56:25,062
Brethren, look at your prayer life.

1195
00:56:25,062 --> 00:56:26,991
True prayer is right here.

1196
00:56:26,991 --> 00:56:28,991
True prayer is all about

1197
00:56:28,991 --> 00:56:31,564
just breathing after God

1198
00:56:31,564 --> 00:56:34,268
in total dependency on Him.

1199
00:56:34,268 --> 00:56:38,562
Lord, help me!

1200
00:56:38,562 --> 00:56:41,740
Brethren, can't you look 
at your lost children?

1201
00:56:41,740 --> 00:56:43,638
All you've got to do is have children

1202
00:56:43,638 --> 00:56:45,774
to realize you're helpless.

1203
00:56:45,774 --> 00:56:47,282
Absolutely helpless.

1204
00:56:47,282 --> 00:56:50,153
Or, pastor a church.

1205
00:56:50,153 --> 00:56:52,145
It's like a hundred-fold.

1206
00:56:52,145 --> 00:56:57,982
You've got all these children now.

1207
00:56:57,982 --> 00:57:01,183
You realize I can't change these people.

1208
00:57:01,183 --> 00:57:02,643
I can't make them grow.

1209
00:57:02,643 --> 00:57:04,322
I can't protect them from sin.

1210
00:57:04,322 --> 00:57:08,711
I can't save my children.

1211
00:57:08,711 --> 00:57:12,049
You begin to look at the enemy

1212
00:57:12,049 --> 00:57:15,484
that we are up against.

1213
00:57:15,484 --> 00:57:17,280
You're trying to take the Gospel out.

1214
00:57:17,280 --> 00:57:18,791
You're trying to plant churches.

1215
00:57:18,791 --> 00:57:21,352
You're trying to answer 
the missionary call.

1216
00:57:21,352 --> 00:57:24,065
(incomplete thought).

1217
00:57:24,065 --> 00:57:26,760
This has really struck me.

1218
00:57:26,760 --> 00:57:29,067
We just came off a week 
of prayer and fasting.

1219
00:57:29,067 --> 00:57:31,892
One of our missionaries 
over in Northeast India,

1220
00:57:31,892 --> 00:57:37,002
he wrote back and he was saying

1221
00:57:37,002 --> 00:57:40,589
in the past, they've been 
somewhat reserved

1222
00:57:40,589 --> 00:57:44,870
in their operations, and he said,

1223
00:57:44,870 --> 00:57:47,952
"no reserve."

1224
00:57:47,952 --> 00:57:50,921
He said we're going to 
go all out over here.

1225
00:57:50,921 --> 00:57:52,861
They've had death threats.

1226
00:57:52,861 --> 00:57:54,741
I told the church that's great.

1227
00:57:54,741 --> 00:57:56,330
We need to pray for them.

1228
00:57:56,330 --> 00:57:58,441
Listen, we are men and women

1229
00:57:58,441 --> 00:58:01,947
doing battle with angels.

1230
00:58:01,947 --> 00:58:05,081
Is there not reason to pray?

1231
00:58:05,081 --> 00:58:07,553
You go out and look at 
some of these hard people.

1232
00:58:07,553 --> 00:58:10,256
You just bring a prostitute 
into your house

1233
00:58:10,256 --> 00:58:13,645
and you just see the hardness.

1234
00:58:13,645 --> 00:58:15,916
Brethren, we are in desperation here.

1235
00:58:15,916 --> 00:58:17,201
We can't do any of this.

1236
00:58:17,201 --> 00:58:18,893
We've been called to a commission.

1237
00:58:18,893 --> 00:58:21,110
We just simply if we don't have Him -

1238
00:58:21,110 --> 00:58:24,006
the lukewarm guy, yes, 
he may pray at meals.

1239
00:58:24,006 --> 00:58:25,311
He may play around.

1240
00:58:25,311 --> 00:58:28,782
He might go to prayer 
meeting once in awhile.

1241
00:58:28,782 --> 00:58:31,442
Brethren, we need to have a deep burning,

1242
00:58:31,442 --> 00:58:34,417
a desire in our hearts for God,

1243
00:58:34,417 --> 00:58:37,521
for Christ, for His power, for more.

1244
00:58:37,521 --> 00:58:39,788
Live in the power of the cross

1245
00:58:39,788 --> 00:58:41,290
to overcome sin.

1246
00:58:41,290 --> 00:58:42,953
Brethren, do you remember the days

1247
00:58:42,953 --> 00:58:44,891
when you could go and confess sin

1248
00:58:44,891 --> 00:58:47,010
and you could weep bitterly like Peter?

1249
00:58:47,010 --> 00:58:48,929
When's the last time that's happened?

1250
00:58:48,929 --> 00:58:55,167
But coolness has settled in.

1251
00:58:55,167 --> 00:59:03,178
Brethren, good, honest, 
desperate dealings.

1252
00:59:03,178 --> 00:59:04,686
We want to get to the place again

1253
00:59:04,686 --> 00:59:05,742
where we go over to that door,

1254
00:59:05,742 --> 00:59:07,055
we fling it wide open.

1255
00:59:07,055 --> 00:59:09,668
We welcome Him into the innermost places

1256
00:59:09,668 --> 00:59:11,692
of our emotions.

1257
00:59:11,692 --> 00:59:15,031
Brethren, do you know 
what opens that door?

1258
00:59:15,031 --> 00:59:16,321
Desperation.

1259
00:59:16,321 --> 00:59:18,201
You know what caused Christ

1260
00:59:18,201 --> 00:59:20,351
to remove Himself behind it?

1261
00:59:20,351 --> 00:59:23,231
Self-sufficiency.

1262
00:59:23,231 --> 00:59:26,770
Brethren, remember who 
you are without Christ,

1263
00:59:26,770 --> 00:59:28,435
what we are.

1264
00:59:28,435 --> 00:59:30,301
Any gains that we've had in the past,

1265
00:59:30,301 --> 00:59:32,164
any of our children that 
have been converted,

1266
00:59:32,164 --> 00:59:33,411
any of the people that we prayed for

1267
00:59:33,411 --> 00:59:34,762
that God did a work in their life,

1268
00:59:34,762 --> 00:59:36,586
any of the Christians we've seen grow,

1269
00:59:36,586 --> 00:59:39,950
any of the victories you've 
had in your own life,

1270
00:59:39,950 --> 00:59:42,834
any advances -

1271
00:59:42,834 --> 00:59:45,311
isn't Tozer exactly right?

1272
00:59:45,311 --> 00:59:48,570
God is in the midst working there.

1273
00:59:48,570 --> 00:59:50,052
Where there's faith, brethren,

1274
00:59:50,052 --> 00:59:51,062
where there's faith,

1275
00:59:51,062 --> 00:59:56,312
where we need Him.

1276
00:59:56,312 --> 01:00:01,096
There's a way lukewarm people pray.

1277
01:00:01,096 --> 01:00:03,238
Keep Him just outside the door.

1278
01:00:03,238 --> 01:00:09,205
Do their business with 
Him in lukewarm style.

1279
01:00:09,205 --> 01:00:11,266
Brethren, this is precisely where we need

1280
01:00:11,266 --> 01:00:13,459
to fling that door open.

1281
01:00:13,459 --> 01:00:15,691
Desperation will cause a man

1282
01:00:15,691 --> 01:00:18,722
to attack that door.

1283
01:00:18,722 --> 01:00:21,485
Brethren, you need to remember.

1284
01:00:21,485 --> 01:00:24,892
We are absolutely spiritual beggars.

1285
01:00:24,892 --> 01:00:31,001
And brethren, our Father -

1286
01:00:31,001 --> 01:00:33,221
every good and perfect 
gift comes from Him.

1287
01:00:33,221 --> 01:00:34,839
He wants us to beg.

1288
01:00:34,839 --> 01:00:36,741
He wants us to supplicate.

1289
01:00:36,741 --> 01:00:39,117
He wants us to come. He wants us to ask.

1290
01:00:39,117 --> 01:00:42,091
Does He not tell us over 
and over and over again?

1291
01:00:42,091 --> 01:00:44,266
He is just the perfect Christ

1292
01:00:44,266 --> 01:00:47,492
for needy people like us.

1293
01:00:47,492 --> 01:00:49,728
If we've grown self-complacent, brethren,

1294
01:00:49,728 --> 01:00:51,552
repent of it! That's what He says.

1295
01:00:51,552 --> 01:00:52,561
Repent!

1296
01:00:52,561 --> 01:00:54,690
He's calling to His people.

1297
01:00:54,690 --> 01:00:56,550
He's looking out among a church

1298
01:00:56,550 --> 01:01:00,482
that the characteristic

1299
01:01:00,482 --> 01:01:03,051
over and above everything else

1300
01:01:03,051 --> 01:01:05,854
from the Christ who's 
got these burning eyes

1301
01:01:05,854 --> 01:01:07,540
who walks through His candlesticks,

1302
01:01:07,540 --> 01:01:09,335
as He looks over at that candlestick

1303
01:01:09,335 --> 01:01:12,161
and He says there's lukewarmness.

1304
01:01:12,161 --> 01:01:13,973
And He calls to those that He loves

1305
01:01:13,973 --> 01:01:16,541
and He says repent.

1306
01:01:16,541 --> 01:01:19,230
You're self-satisfied.

1307
01:01:19,230 --> 01:01:21,401
Come, find in Me and buy in Me

1308
01:01:21,401 --> 01:01:23,570
and find in Me your everything.

1309
01:01:23,570 --> 01:01:24,743
Attack that door.

1310
01:01:24,743 --> 01:01:27,941
Learn the true eloquence of prayer.

1311
01:01:27,941 --> 01:01:30,360
Petition Me as a beggar.

1312
01:01:30,360 --> 01:01:32,222
Blessed, brethren, He says

1313
01:01:32,222 --> 01:01:34,305
are the poor in spirit.

1314
01:01:34,305 --> 01:01:37,254
We need a desperate sense of destitution,

1315
01:01:37,254 --> 01:01:42,851
a vulnerability of absolute want.

1316
01:01:42,851 --> 01:01:45,376
That's what puts the strength in our hand

1317
01:01:45,376 --> 01:01:49,205
to lift that latch.

1318
01:01:49,205 --> 01:01:51,208
Look, you know, just in proportion

1319
01:01:51,208 --> 01:01:54,613
as a man becomes 
acquainted with that reality -

1320
01:01:54,613 --> 01:01:57,443
his own weakness,

1321
01:01:57,443 --> 01:02:00,522
utter destitution.

1322
01:02:00,522 --> 01:02:02,804
Will he come to that door?

1323
01:02:02,804 --> 01:02:06,362
You remember Jacob.

1324
01:02:06,362 --> 01:02:08,654
I'm not letting go.

1325
01:02:08,654 --> 01:02:09,926
Can you imagine him?

1326
01:02:09,926 --> 01:02:11,606
Talk about desperation.

1327
01:02:11,606 --> 01:02:17,008
Here comes his brother and 400 men.

1328
01:02:17,008 --> 01:02:22,621
God, put us in that place.

1329
01:02:22,621 --> 01:02:24,152
Sometimes that's what it takes

1330
01:02:24,152 --> 01:02:25,998
to wake us up, right?

1331
01:02:25,998 --> 01:02:28,534
We need 400 men coming after us.

1332
01:02:28,534 --> 01:02:30,390
Heavily armed.

1333
01:02:30,390 --> 01:02:32,458
That's exactly it.

1334
01:02:32,458 --> 01:02:33,896
You know what? That's all the reason

1335
01:02:33,896 --> 01:02:36,891
to bring the prostitute into your house.

1336
01:02:36,891 --> 01:02:40,631
That'll be like 400 men heavily armed.

1337
01:02:40,631 --> 01:02:42,633
Truthfully!

1338
01:02:42,633 --> 01:02:45,301
You pray different on your way home

1339
01:02:45,301 --> 01:02:48,123
when you have certain people living there

1340
01:02:48,123 --> 01:02:50,644
than you do if they're 
not living there, right?

1341
01:02:50,644 --> 01:02:52,712
We can become kind of forgetful of Christ,

1342
01:02:52,712 --> 01:02:56,194
forgetful of your needs.

1343
01:02:56,194 --> 01:03:00,749
Right?

1344
01:03:00,749 --> 01:03:03,922
Brethren, I'll tell you this.

1345
01:03:03,922 --> 01:03:10,098
You can't open the door

1346
01:03:10,098 --> 01:03:12,941
in your bedroom

1347
01:03:12,941 --> 01:03:16,613
spending four hours on Facebook.

1348
01:03:16,613 --> 01:03:20,869
Nobody ever opens the door

1349
01:03:20,869 --> 01:03:28,922
glued to the television.

1350
01:03:28,922 --> 01:03:33,912
There are so many things in this world,

1351
01:03:33,912 --> 01:03:36,462
and hear me,

1352
01:03:36,462 --> 01:03:38,311
there are lots of things in this world

1353
01:03:38,311 --> 01:03:44,702
that by design are meant 
to kill your passion.

1354
01:03:44,702 --> 01:03:48,440
You have an enemy who is at work,

1355
01:03:48,440 --> 01:03:50,832
who controls Hollywood,

1356
01:03:50,832 --> 01:03:55,261
controls the news, the media,

1357
01:03:55,261 --> 01:03:56,970
the schools.

1358
01:03:56,970 --> 01:03:58,941
(incomplete thought).

1359
01:03:58,941 --> 01:04:00,210
It's with purpose.

1360
01:04:00,210 --> 01:04:04,673
It's with design.

1361
01:04:04,673 --> 01:04:05,998
To kill your passion,

1362
01:04:05,998 --> 01:04:09,531
to kill your urgency for Christ.

1363
01:04:09,531 --> 01:04:11,313
Brethren, desperation.

1364
01:04:11,313 --> 01:04:15,721
Desperation.

1365
01:04:15,721 --> 01:04:19,071
And you can hear Luther.

1366
01:04:19,071 --> 01:04:20,974
You know the story.

1367
01:04:20,974 --> 01:04:22,052
He says to Melancthon

1368
01:04:22,052 --> 01:04:24,539
I've got so many things 
that I need to do today,

1369
01:04:24,539 --> 01:04:26,285
I need to pray an extra hour.

1370
01:04:26,285 --> 01:04:27,643
That's where we need to be.

1371
01:04:27,643 --> 01:04:29,960
Desperation.

1372
01:04:29,960 --> 01:04:32,260
Don't go away and live 
on the spiritual high.

1373
01:04:32,260 --> 01:04:34,811
Go away in desperation.

1374
01:04:34,811 --> 01:04:35,534
Pray.

1375
01:04:35,534 --> 01:04:37,563
Renew an urgency.

1376
01:04:37,563 --> 01:04:40,570
Brethren, the truth is our time is short.

1377
01:04:40,570 --> 01:04:44,203
The last thing we want to 
do is have lukewarmness.

1378
01:04:44,203 --> 01:04:45,871
Stir up one another.

1379
01:04:45,871 --> 01:04:48,060
Stir up one another to 
love and good works.

1380
01:04:48,060 --> 01:04:51,924
Brethren, to our knees!

1381
01:04:51,924 --> 01:04:57,768
Prayer life, brethren. Pray! Pray! Pray!

1382
01:04:57,768 --> 01:04:59,900
If you've fallen asleep there, pray!

1383
01:04:59,900 --> 01:05:02,506
To your knees!

1384
01:05:02,506 --> 01:05:06,270
Don't give up!

1385
01:05:06,270 --> 01:05:09,799
Jesus said, "Watch! Watch! Watch!"

1386
01:05:09,799 --> 01:05:13,329
Certainly, to people whose flesh was weak,

1387
01:05:13,329 --> 01:05:15,065
and He's saying, "Watch!"

1388
01:05:15,065 --> 01:05:17,040
What I say to you, I say to all.

1389
01:05:17,040 --> 01:05:19,827
They need to watch. We need to watch.

1390
01:05:19,827 --> 01:05:21,878
Brethren, don't cool off!

1391
01:05:21,878 --> 01:05:27,959
The race isn't done yet.

1392
01:05:27,959 --> 01:05:38,571
As I said, this message 
I've preached to me.

1393
01:05:38,571 --> 01:05:40,908
Well, God help us all, brethren.

1394
01:05:40,908 --> 01:05:42,380
Amen.