“LET JESUS IN" (Part II) July 31, 2005

Revelation 3:14-22


1. I want to begin with 6 safety tips for you this morning:
* 20% of all accidents happen in cars
* 17% in your home
* 16% in air, rail, or ship travel
* 15% walking on sidewalks
* more people die in bed than anywhere else!
* .001% of all accidents happen in church = glad you came this morning, safest place to be in Canby!

2. thanks to Tom Sawyer for preaching last Sunday – all I’ve heard are oous & aahhs!

3. 2 weeks ago I preached on Revelation 3:14-18. Today I plan to tackle just 13 words, verse 19 – those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Prayer – Dear God whom we know as Father Son & Holy Spirit, I pray that you would bend whatever is rigid within our lives, thaw whatever is frozen, and straighten whatever is crooked. In Jesus' name, amen.

19 – pivot point of the passage
The Message – The people I love, I call to account--prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God (The Message)

Love…
1. Those whom I love. The word Jesus typically uses for love is agape – love that is an act of the will, unconditional love.
2. Here he uses a different word – phileo. This is friendship love, love that feels, love that enjoys being with another.

3. remember just a few verses earlier Jesus said he was nauseated by this church – they made him want to vomit. And now he says he loves them, not by will, but because he feels friendship affection for them.

4. this is friend to friend love Jesus has for this grossly imperfect church that is lukewarm in their love for him.

5. this is powerful stuff. Jesus loves us in our sin, our failures, our imperfections, our weaknesses, our limitations. And if we are going to be like Jesus, it means loving others in their sin, failures, imperfections, weaknesses, and limitations.

Rebuke & discipline…
1. to rebuke someone is to confront them with what is wrong in their lives. Wrong according to Scripture. Jesus in his love for the Laodiceans is not going to let them continue in their lukewarm condition without getting in their face. Hitting them straight up.

2. to discipline someone is to take action against what is wrong in their lives. When I was in high school my parents found out that I snuck into a movie through the exit door. They disciplined me – I was grounded for 2 weeks.

3. God will take action against us. The action in the passage for the Laodiceans is found in v. 16 – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Jesus is ready to remove his presence from the church. As a form of discipline.

4. Hebrews 12:7-11 is worth reading if you want to know more about God’s discipline in your life.

Be earnest & repent…
1. repent is a big-time biblical word. It lies at the heart of Jesus’ message.

2. we begin this life of following Jesus by repentance: the time has come, (Jesus said), the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! The 1st thing Jesus asks of people is repentance.

3. we progress in this life of following Jesus by repentance. Jesus calls 5 of the 7 churches in addresses in Revelation 2-3 to repentance:
--> Ephesus in 2:5
--> Pergamum in 2:16
--> Thyatria in 2:21,22
--> Sardis in 3:3
--> Laodicea in 3:19

4. what is repentance? It’s very simple. To repent is to have a change of heart and/or mind that shows up in a lifestyle or behavior change:
--> the church at Laodicea = to renounce their self-sufficiency, spiritual poverty & lukewarm service & turn to Christ
--> Zacchaeus = become an honest tax collector (Luke 19)
--> woman caught in adultery = leave her life of sin (John 8)
--> Peter = turn from his denials & recommit himself to loving & serving Christ (John 21)
--> Ephesus = returning to their first love of Christ (Rev 2)

5. another word for repentance is change. As Christ-followers we are to constantly grow & change so we take on more of the character & conduct of our Teacher, Jesus himself.

6. we will never outgrow our need of repentance as long as we are in this world. We become followers of Christ by repentance from our sins & we develop as followers of Christ by repentance from our sins. This is to be part of our spiritual DNA.

7. if repentance is a big-time bible word, if repentance is how we both begin & continue to live as Christ-followers, if repentance is at the heart of Jesus’ message, then why is it so unpopular with us?
--> never seen the word ‘repent’ in a church vision, mission or values statement
--> never known a church to have ‘repentance’ in its name
--> never read a best-selling Christian book with ‘repentance’ in its title
--> never seen a bible study or seminar on ‘repentance’ packed out like I have on other topics
I am just as guilty of avoiding this as anyone else.

8. if Jesus calls 5 of these 7 churches to repentance the odds are pretty good that he is calling us to repentance this morning as well. Last time I checked none of us are perfect – that means all of us have things, words, attitudes, behaviors we need to repent of, change.

Bone scan…
1. Friday I had a bone scan to find out what is causing all the pain in my right heel. I was injected with 25cc of isotope. A radioactive fluid that tags itself to bones where something is not right – infection, stress fracture. They took a ‘before’ & ‘after’ picture of my feet. Next week I’ll find out if anything shows up in the scan.

2. we need a life scan. Inject us with some spiritual isotope. Let it spread itself around our hearts & minds & attitudes. Let it run to the sin that lurks within & manifests itself without. Let it report back to us where we need to stop, change, turn around in the name of Christ.

3. our spiritual isotope is the Holy Spirit (and that’s a whole other sermon).

Life scan report
1. let me play doctor, radiologist. I want to share with you where I think we are in need of repentance. “I” in the sense of me as your pastor seeking God in prayer for our church & myself. This list is simply a start-up list.

2. 1st, is Jesus your Savior? Are you a Christian? Have you humbled yourself before Jesus, admitted you are a sinner, and invited him into your life? This must be the 1st step of repentance for all of us.

Mark 6:12 – They went out and preached that people should repent. The message of Jesus became the message of his followers. Have you repented of your sins & confessed Jesus as your Savior?

3. 2nd, is Jesus your Lord? Lord means that he is your master, your boss, the ruler of your life. Yours is to obey, follow, serve, worship & delight in him. This is total surrender, total commitment. Is Jesus your Lord?

Philippians 2:11 – and every tongue confess that Jesus in Lord.

4. 3rd, are you too busy to spend time with Jesus & serve his mission? Busyness is the curse of our culture. Many of us live desperate lives because we’ve sold ourselves out to “good” things but not the “best.”
We parents are just as impacted by peer pressure as
our kids. Let’s wake up. We want to make sure we keep up with our friends & neighbors – cars, vacations, toys, clothes, sports teams, leisure activities. Our kids learn about peer pressure from us.

We’re over-involved, over-scheduled. No wonder half of us are on anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications. Our lives are crazy. We’re trying to do too much.

And Jesus gets our leftovers - leftover time, leftover energy, leftover money, and leftover service. Our palm pilots, day-timers, checkbooks, and visa statements reveal our priorities & passions. How often is Jesus written into yours?

5. 4th, are your relationships marked by unity & love? Is Jesus pleased by how we treat each other as brothers & sisters in Christ in this church? How would you feel this morning if your emails were made public? If your phone conversations were played over our sound system? If your conversations over coffee at Starbucks were printed & made available on the back table?

Ephesians 4:1-3 – As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Right now there is way too much talking behind each other’s backs going on in our church. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 18 – if we have something against someone, we are to 1st go to them in person. This is love in action. This is making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
This week, let’s make peace. Let’s make unity. Let’s make love our goal.

6. 5th, do we have compassion for lost & hurting people?

Matthew 9:36 – when he (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Mark 2:17 – it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but he sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Where’s our compassion for the hurting, hungry, lonely, needy people of our community? Do we really care that there are people in Canby who need food to eat? Who need a decent place to live? Who need an advocate? Who don’t have enough money to buy their children school supplies? While we spend hours & hours & thousands of dollars on ourselves for things that really don’t matter?

Our houses & garages & sheds are filled with things that cost us a lot of money that someone has convinced us we need. I propose that this fall we hold a gigantic church garage sale – you bring your stuff here. And give the money away to the poor in our community in the name of Jesus. Who wants to head it up?

Where’s our compassion for people who have yet to personally connect with Jesus’ love for them? I know this is not a culturally correct thing to say today – but people without Christ are spiritually lost. Do we care? Do we grieve? Do we cry?

12 years ago I came to church with a pierced ear, shaved head, and smoked a cigarette during my sermon. My point – typical church people would be more upset by my behavior than they would by the church’s lack of vibrant witness for Christ.

I’ll be honest here – it concerns me when I hear people upset about coffee in the worship center. I understand what you’re saying. I understand why it bothers you. I really do. But on the scale of eternity, it doesn’t rate. I don’t think God is in heaven upset at the Canby Alliance Church because some people bring coffee into the worship center.

What upsets God is people like us who have lost their 1st love & care very little for the lost people around us. I wish someone would write me a hot email or phone me or come storming into my office upset because we’re not reaching people for Christ! In my 20 years here it has never happened! That should bother us & grieve us.

We are disturbed by the wrong things. We are inwardly, selfishly focused. People are dying without Christ all around us – when is that finally going to trouble us into doing something about it? Do we really care? I know Jesus does.

7. is Jesus your Savior? Is Jesus your Lord? Are you too busy to spend time with Jesus & serve his mission? Are your relationships marked by unity & love? Do you have compassion for lost & hurting people?

8. Jesus is saying to us today – it’s time to be passionate about repentance. 120 seconds to sit in silence – he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.