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I met with a brother the other day
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and I was talking to him
on just this very subject
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and I got home and I
started studying for this,
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and I saw many of the
same things I told him,
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I see Christ telling
this church right now.
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And I realized, there's a
number of you, undoubtedly
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in this church that need to hear this.
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We all need to hear this.
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Listen, as I say these things,
you look at your own life.
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We don't need to think about others,
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we need to think about ourselves here.
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But what I see is this...
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Well, it reminds me of Bunyan.
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In Pilgrim's Progress, he talked about
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Mr. Facing Both Ways. You remember a guy like that?
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He had two faces.
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You look at him this
way, and it looked like
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he was looking at you;
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and you come around
back behind him,
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and it looked like he had a face.
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It's like those Indians that
used to wear the masks
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on the back of their heads.
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I'm talking about the Indians in India.
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They would wear masks
on the back of their heads.
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They'd be out there in the tea fields,
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and they'd wear a mask
on the back of their heads
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to make it look like they
were looking both ways,
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so that when a tiger
would come, he would see
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that face looking at him, and
he wouldn't come after them.
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Because tigers are smart, and
they'll stalk you from behind.
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But they'd wear a mask on
the back of their heads,
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so it would ward off the tigers.
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I guess it worked.
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But you know what?
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That's great if you're
working the tea plantations,
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over by where John works.
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But that's not great
if you're a Christian!
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If you're Mr. Facing Both Ways.
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You've got these people in the church,
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that they can howl and
bark with the wolves,
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just as much as bleat with the sheep.
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They've got no backbone.
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The wind blows one way
and they go that way.
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The wind blows the other
way and they go that way.
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They don't stand for anything.
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They're in the workplace,
and they'll laugh
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and smile at the smut there,
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and then come into
the church and smile
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with the same tongue, the same lips,
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they'll sing the hymns
and they'll sing the trash.
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They're going both ways.
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And what Jesus is saying
is that it makes Me sick.
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He's says I would rather you were cold.
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I would rather you were against Me.
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I would rather you were decidedly not
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claiming to be a Christian,
decidedly for the world,
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decidedly for the devil.
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Stop playing the middle ground.
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And some of you are that way.
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You come to church, but you're divided;
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you're facing both ways,
and you don't have any backbone.
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You basically go the way the wind blows.
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You sway over here, you sway over there.
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You do nothing well in life.
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Because a person like this,
they're not a good Christian,
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because they're lukewarm.
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They're not sold out, they're not hot.
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Listen, if this is true,
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give yourself to it with a whole heart.
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Quit playing games.
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The reality is this, I never
could figure this out.
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I guess God didn't bring
me down this road, but
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I could never figure it out.
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When I was lost, I lived
in my sin, I had fun,
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I climbed mountains, and I rafted rivers,
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and I got stuff, and I
drank, and I lived it up,
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and it was fun!
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And I gave myself to it with a vengeance.
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But when I saw what Christ was,
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I said, no, I want that.
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And I want Him with a vengeance.
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And I want to be sold out.
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And you know what, if what He is,
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what He says He is, what He offers,
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if it's true, isn't that worth having,
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wholeheartedly?
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I mean, I just don't
understand people that
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want to play the middle ground.
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Look! If sports are better than Christ,
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then sell out for it and quit with Christ.
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I'd rather you were cold.
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If a woman's body is better than Christ,
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then sell out for it, go get all you can,
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and quit playing the game!
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If money is better, go after it.
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If the world is better and drink is better
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and drugs are better - sell out for it.
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Go after it! Get all you can!
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Live it up, because
this is all you've got!
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And if Christ is better than all that,
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then go after Him with abandon!
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All out! Sold out!
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Listen, that's what Christ wants.
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He says be decided.
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Quit playing these silly games where you
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claim to be this, but in
your heart, you're really this.
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And you do nothing well.
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You're not being a Christian well.
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You're not serving the world well.
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You go out in the world, and
you claim to be this Christian,
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and they know you go to church on Sundays,
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they see through it,
but you're a sell out.
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You're not really one of them.
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My wife talks about the fact
that her friends had to come
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and pick her up from church to take her
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out to the beach to go drink.
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I mean, what was that?
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That's the kind of thing that makes Him sick!
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Trying to play between the lines here.
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Doing nothing well. You're lukewarm.
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You're lukewarm to everything.
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You're lukewarm to the world.
You're lukewarm to the devil.
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You're lukewarm to Christ.
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And He says it sickens Him.
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Just quit!
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I hope you see this.
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Look: these people are in trouble.
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What you have to realize is this,
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He says if you continue in this way,
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I'm going to spit you out of My mouth.
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I'm going to vomit you out of My mouth.
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You can take that and turn that into:
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"that means I'm going to heaven."
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If I'm lukewarm, that says I'm going there.
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You can make that conclusion if you want,
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but I don't think that's what it means.
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I think being spit out of
His mouth is something
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you and I ought to realize is not good.
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And that's He's saying
to these Laodiceans,
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if you continue in that path
you are in, it will not end well.
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It is an unacceptable state, it sickens Me,
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and I will vomit you out.
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Being vomited out of Christ's
mouth, I can hardly imagine,
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is any kind of symbolic
representation of getting to heaven.
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Not in what I know of
Scripture and symbolism.
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That is bad.
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That is not good.
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And some of you are
not sold out for Christ.
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You're running with
the world and you know it.
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You'll come into church
on Sundays, but your heart
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is after the world.
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And listen, if that's what you want,
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quit playing the games and go after it
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with all the gusto. Just go!
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And be a good party-er,
be a good worldling.
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Stop Mr. Facing Both Ways, and listen,
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people like this, they can come in,
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they can sing "It Is Well" with their soul,
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but it is not well with your soul.
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You know, as I was looking
at this thing, I would ask
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myself sometimes how does
this differ from Ephesus?
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Ephesus lost its first love.
These people are lukewarm.
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I think about losing first love,
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doesn't that mean
that I'm growing a little
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cold towards Christ.
There's a lukewarmness.
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I mean, yes, we could look at that way,
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but you know what the
big differences are here?
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Those people over there,
they were not weary,
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they were not tiring out,
they were biblically discerning,
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they were people that were pressing on.
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Twice, they were told that
they were enduring people,
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they were patiently enduring.
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These are people that
have a lot of good works.
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These are people that are
pressing on for His name's sake.
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Yes, it's true, that Christ
didn't like the fact that
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the level of their intimacy
had fallen off a little bit,
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and it was a serious thing,
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but listen, when you compare
that over against Laodicea,
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Laodicea has nothing good said about it,
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and Ephesus had a tremendous
amount of good said about it.
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You know what the problem is?
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These people are lukewarm
when it comes to weariness.
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They're lukewarm when
it comes to patience.
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They're lukewarm when
it comes to doing good.
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They're lukewarm when it comes
to attending the services.
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They're lukewarm when it comes
to attending the prayer meetings.
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They're lukewarm when it
comes to prayer and fasting.
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They're lukewarm when
it comes to giving.
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They're lukewarm when
it comes to evangelizing.
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They're lukewarm when
it comes to reading their Bible.
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They're just lukewarm. They're
just not committed to anything.
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It's sad. Once in awhile
they might get in the Word,
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but half the time they're
giving themselves to the
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things of the world.
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They're split. They're Mr. Facing Both Ways.
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And they don't do anything well.
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The Ephesians were doing lots well.
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They had fallen off with
their intimacy with Christ,
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and they needed that restored,
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but these people are in bad shape.
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And Jesus says to them,
Look, you think you're rich,
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you think you're doing
well, you think you're ok,
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you think everything is alright,
you think you have no need,
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but He says to them, you are wretched,
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you are miserable, you
are blind, you are naked,
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brethren, those are terms for lost people.
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Those are terms for people going to hell.
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Those are terms for people in trouble.
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Lukewarmness is an indication of lostness.
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That's what you see here
in this letter. It's serious.
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Very serious to be vomited.
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Brethren, Jesus wants you hot or cold.
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You say, really? Jesus wants me cold?
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He'd rather have you that than lukewarm.
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He's saying, show your
colors. Just show them.
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Be committed to something in life.
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I mean, if you're going to
give yourself to something,
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give yourself wholeheartedly to it.
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I think sometimes about the text there
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where Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15
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he says, if the resurrection -
we sang about that glorious
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song about the resurrection.
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Brethren, if that resurrection
we sang about isn't true,
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the Christian of all
people is most miserable.
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Isn't that what Paul taught?
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However, the resurrection is true.
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We of all people are not most miserable.
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We are if the resurrection isn't
true, but the resurrection is true,
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so we of all people are
the most to be envied.
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But you know who the
actual people are in this world
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most to be pitied?
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Most miserable of all?
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It's Mr. Facing Both Ways. Because
he doesn't do anything well.
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He doesn't play the Christian part well,
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because the true
Christians smell him out.
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They're always aware,
there's something unspiritual,
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unsound about him.
They can see through him.
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Look, you don't have to
be around a person long
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before you figure out what they love.
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True Christians have a
nose for sniffing that out.
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So they don't really fit
in well with the church,
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and they don't fit entirely
well with the world,
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because they're always
playing the part of a Christian.
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They're like Ruby's friends:
Come with us all the time!
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Why is it we always
have to interrupt our thing
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and take you home at a certain time?
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I mean, here we are drinking on the beach
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and we've got to go
pick you up from church.
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Just come with us all the
time, that's what your heart is.
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Well, she had to do
that to appease her father.
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It's that half-hearted thing.
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Of all people, you're most miserable.
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You know why? You try to
play the part of a Christian,
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and you didn't do it well,
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you try to play the part of a worldling,
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but even there you kind
of had a foul smell about you,
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because you associated with the Scriptures
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and with God's people, with the church,
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with Christ.
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And in the end you're
going to lose your soul.
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I mean, the guy that
just sold out abandoned,
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let's eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!
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Right? That's what
they said in Scripture.
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They just sold out!
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I mean, come on, if sin is
worth abandoning Christ for,
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if you'd rather have sin, quit
playing the little church deal,
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because if you do that, you're
going to get spit out of His mouth.
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Be cold.
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If that's what your inclination is,
do it with your whole heart.
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If you've truly looked at Christ,
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and you've said, this is it.
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I have found the desire of my heart.
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I see in Him forgiveness. That's what I want.
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I see in Him something altogether lovely,
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and altogether desirable.
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I see in what He did on that cross,
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that is for me, that is perfect.
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I want to follow Him. I want
to follow Him to the end.
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Then do it well.
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That's what Jesus is saying.
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Be hot! Or be cold, but don't be in the middle,
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because He can't stand it.
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Brethren, if this is true, if it is,
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then isn't it worth our all?
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Brothers, sisters, let us
be men, let us be women,
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let us be decided, all for
Christ or all for the world.
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Don't play games.
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Don't sing songs claiming Christ is all,
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and then go out and live a different way.
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Because your words give you away.
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They're a dead giveaway.
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Brethren, decided! Be decided!
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If truly the things that
the world offer are better,
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then give yourself to them,
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and quit it.
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Quit playing.