14″To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15`I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16`So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17`Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19`Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20`Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21`He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22`He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Revelation 3:14-22

In this passage, God, who is the “beginning of creation,” created all out of nothing, and has dominion over it including us, is directing a message to the church in Laodicea. God informs them of their error and delivers the message that, though believers stray, if they recognize this and seek His truth, God has the power to set them back on the right path. 

The church in Laodicea is warned about living without discernment in their faith. Though they are sinners, they believe they are righteous. They are sinners because they are “neither cold or hot” in their faith, which means they are no longer able to distinguish between what is right and wrong, what is following God and what is following the world. Believers must constantly seek to have discernment in their faith, or their values and judgment become misdirected. The church of Laodicea succumbed to following the wisdom of the world around them. God warns them that, if they do not repent, they will be “spit out.” In the same way, when we are complacent in our faith, God will reject us.

God then advises them to “buy from Me gold refined by fire.” God “reproves and disciplines” those he loves who have lost their way. The discipline God sends will purify us as gold is purified by fire. This fire will create what the world cannot destroy. Whatever the world throws at us, we must realize we can only overcome through God’s power. None of the worldly skills and abilities we build are lasting or effective. Only our faith will withstand every test this world sends. God directs these hardships to those he loves to build their faith. God will provide us an “eye salve” to build greater understanding driven by God’s truth and inspiration. God wants us to live according to the direction of the Bible. Whatever trouble comes to us, we must persevere in following the direction of the Bible and not betray our faith. 

Whenever people face hardship, their first instinct is to try and solve the dilemma themselves with wisdom from the world. This is the road to destruction. When we realize that this hardship is coming from God, we must instead make it our priority to focus on what God wants us to do, not what worldly wisdom directs us to do. When His discipline comes to us, we must seek out the Lord more aggressively. When we discover the reason for receiving this discipline and fix it, we conquer it. What must we learn? What must we repent? Why is God sending me this discipline? Be more zealous and repent. 

We find our way when we recognize God’s sacrifice for us and genuinely accept his redemption. We can overcome our selfish motivations by seeking God’s truth first. Then, when we pray with all our hearts, we receive further understanding through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Without God’s truth and inspiration, we cannot persevere and recognize the sins we must repent. God is knocking at the door to show us the way. The door of sin is blocking us. The sin of following our own purpose, worldly wisdom, and direction. This is a door which blocks the truth of God’s word and His inspiration from building our discernment. When we receive this insight and know what to do, the door opens. Filled with confidence, we entrust all to the Lord. God dines with us. When we succeed, we feel a joy and thankfulness which the world cannot take away. God enters our hearts to work through us, and we are connected to Him. With God’s strength backing us, we can overcome all challenges to achieve our salvation, and we will be able to sit next to God on his throne.

It is important that we face this moment right now with discernment to know God’s purpose. Everything we encounter in each present moment must be aligned with God’s purpose. How we face these moments will determine our eternal future. No matter how high we reach in this world, it is worth nothing when we stand before God’s judgment. We must be perfect and whole with God to achieve eternal salvation. This must be our priority and purpose, and it begins with a clear vision to know how to live righteously before God.

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1983-11-7-mixdown