Radical For Jesus

Revelation 3:15-21 "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

18 So I advise you to buy gold from Me--gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from Me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.

20 "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. 21 Those who are victorious will sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat with My Father on His throne.

It is easy to be so well blessed that you forget where the blessings come from and you start to depend on the blessings instead of the one who blesses. The church at Laodicea didn't think that they were lacking anything but Jesus had very harsh words for them.

"You are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."

Those are pretty serious words and they must have been hard to accept, this congregation thought that their gold and their fine garments and the ointment that their city was famous for were signs that God was pleased with them. But Jesus offers us so much more than the riches and pleasures of this world.

Jesus has better gold, better garments and better ointment. Just like the Samaritan women at the well who was offered the Living Water, just like the crowd that was offered the Bread of life, the things that the world has to offer are never as good as the things that Jesus has for us. (Revelation 3:18)

This church thought that they were doing a good job, they were busy building themselves up, they thought that they were rich but Jesus says that they are poor. This stands in contrast to the church at Smyrna that thought it was poor and Jesus said that they are rich. (Revelation 2:9-10)

This church reminds me of God's children in the Old Testament, most of the time they were proud of the fact that they were not too radical, they thought that they could please God while they embraced the ways of the people around them.

1 Kings 18:21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, "How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!" But the people were completely silent.

It seems a lot like the church today in America. We don't like to be offensive but the gospel is offensive. We don't like to be different from the rest of the world but that is exactly the way God's children are called to be.

"So be diligent and turn from your indifference."

Our everyday lives lack passion for the Lord, the message to Laodicea is also to us, get hot for Jesus, be radical instead of ordinary. A zeal for the things of God will cause us to cheerfully work for him and our love for him will help us stand for truth because when we love something strongly then we will hate all that is against it.

Jesus is waiting for us to let him into our church, it sounds a little bit strange, the church has to be willing to have him in order for him to come in. Jesus has gone to extreme measures to get to the door but he will not open the door and force his way into our congregation. We often use these verses to lead lost people to Christ, but the basic application here is to the church that received this letter.

In this new year we need to decide how hot we are going to be for Jesus. The natural state for us to seek is to be comfortable, doing just enough church stuff to make us feel good, very few people like to be overly hot or cold but as a follower of Jesus we don't get to stay comfortable if we want to please Him.

Let's be radical in our love for Jesus, radical in our obedience to His Word, this is the only appropriate response for God's children to have.

It's A Clean Sweep When Jesus Clears The Temple

Luke 19:45-48 Then Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the people selling animals for sacrifices. 46 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves.”

47 After that, he taught daily in the Temple, but the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the other leaders of the people began planning how to kill him. 48 But they could think of nothing, because all the people hung on every word he said.

Luke 20:1-8 One day as Jesus was teaching the people and preaching the Good News in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. 2 They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right?”

3 “Let me ask you a question first,” he replied. 4 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?”

5 They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. 6 But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet.” 7 So they finally replied that they didn’t know.

8 And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Wasn't it bad enough that Jesus just rode into town on a donkey as the crowds declared that he is the Messiah? Jesus infuriated the religious leaders when he refused to tell the crowds that they were wrong about him and as if that wasn't bad enough he returns to the temple and upsets the establishment some more.

Instead of acting out against the Roman government in Jerusalem as you would expect the recently announced king of the Jews to do, Jesus entered the temple and dealt with the issues in God's house, the corruption there was more important and the political problems. Jesus cleaned house by throwing out the money changers and the people selling animals for the sacrifice, both services were necessary but they were being used for huge financial gain.

To Jesus the issue in Israel was not Roman occupation, the issue was Jewish religious corruption. The Lord is not concerned with the people's relationship to Rome, He's concerned with the people's relationship to God.

-John MacArthur

The Jews and proselytes to Judaism needed the money changers so they would have the proper currency for the temple and the people selling the animals made it easier to travel to the temple from far away without taking care of the animal sacrifice. Both of these business transactions were being made in the part of the temple where the Gentiles were allowed to go to pray.

I have to wonder what would happen if the people that Jesus threw out felt any guilt for their wrongs and they went to the religious leaders to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness, then what would the Pharisees do? Would they admit they were wrong and that they also needed to repent and offer a sacrifice? I doubt it.

Who gave Jesus his authority?

John 12:49-50 I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”

The religious leaders loved the authority that they had and they liked to think that they were a big deal but Jesus rejected their authority and did what he pleased. He overrode their decision to allow the animals and thieves into the temple courts. There's nothing more devastating and hard to swallow than being treated as if you don't matter when you think you really do.

Jesus was always known to speak with authority (Matthew 7:28-29) but the Pharisees hadn't figured it out yet, for the last three years he taught and performed miracles daily but they are so spiritually blind that they have to ask him where his authority is from. (Luke 2:45-47, 4:36)

We know by his teaching and his miracles that he is clearly the Son of God, Jesus didn't need to answer their question directly and get into a debate about his authority. His authority was proved everyday of his earthly ministry and we all know that actions speak louder than words.

The question that I have to answer is will I submit to Jesus authority in the way that I live my life? Will I seek to please myself and do whatever I need to do to have fun, make money and be popular? Will I allow Jesus to clean up my mind and purify my thoughts?

Read The Owners Manual!

It isn't very often that we pull something new out of the box and stop to read the manual, in our excitement to play with our new toy we think that we already understand what it is and how to use it, usually we do know about it but sometimes we are surprised to learn something good from the owners manual.

People that know about the product the most wrote some things down for you so that you would understand it as well and get a full understanding of the product. We like to get on with life so we toss that information aside.

That's the way we treat God and the Bible. We know about God and church, we know who Jesus is and that we need him for our sin but how much time do you spend REALLY getting to know God? Who are we to think that we have the knowledge that we need to get us through life? Someone that is infinity smarter than ourselves has written a manual to help us and we ignore it.

There cannot be a better author of a "how to" book for how to live than the book that God has written for us. Some of the benefits of reading the Bible:

✔ Our patience in difficult times would be maintained (Acts 20:32; Ephesians 4:1-3)

✔ Our contentment would increase (1 Timothy 6:6, Philippians 3:8, 4:11)

✔ Our relationships will improve (Matthew 22:37–39, Philippians 2:3–4, 1 Corinthians 13:4–8)

✔ Our peace would multiply (Philippians 4:6-9; Psalm 85:8)

✔ Our love would be stirred as well as our joy (Hebrews 10:24; Galatians 5:22-23)

✔ We can desire more for our Creator (Psalm 31:23; Psalm 73:25; Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

✔ We can learn what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 3:3-4, 5:17)

✔ We can learn how to change our destiny after life on earth is through. (John 3:16, 1John 5:13-15 )

✔ We can live with purpose (Proverbs 19:21, Colossians 1:20, Jeremiah 29:11, 1 John 2:17)

✔ We get equipped for doing good things (2 Timothy 3:14-17, 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians 3:3-5, 16, 17)

✔ The Bible equips us to be competent counselors (Romans 15:14; 2 Timothy 3:16)

We need to be digging the word everyday so that God's book can have a meaningful effect on our lives.

Amazing Faith - Private Disciplines

Matthew 6:1-8 "Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.

When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do--blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

"When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

"When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!

Matthew 6:16-18 "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get. But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Discipline is a four letter word to most of us, we don't like being forced to do something that we do not want to do, it doesn't matter if it is exercise, budget, a diet or learning to play an instrument, we want to do what we want to do.

Sometimes we don't even like disciplined people, sometimes they are inspiring but a lot of the time they get on our nerves because they seem more motivated than we are, they make us feel bad, so we try to persuade them to be more like us.

Discipline is for our own good and that is even more true of spiritual discipline. Spiritual disciplines are another tool that God uses to help us grow closer to him. Our faith and trust in him will grow as our relationship with him develops, this doesn't happen by accident, there must be an intentional effort. This is the heart of what it means to be a disciple here at Grace Falls. INTENTIONAL EFFORTS that come from an OVERWHELMING BELIEF in who God is and what He has done for us.

Students are to be like their teacher. - Jesus (The one who INTENTIONALLY CAME TO US - so that we could be reconciled to Him!)

A disciple of Jesus is someone who is learning to be like him, most of that learning isn't easy, our nature doesn't naturally want to be like Jesus so we fight against what he wants to teach us. It is a struggle to "not be conformed to this world." We have to take deliberate action to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind." (Romans 12:1-2)

Don't mistake the purpose for private discipline, you are not trying to earn God's favor by checking off a bunch of good deeds, doing these things does not change the fact that you have been saved by grace alone.

Becoming a better disciple is our goal and it is only by His grace and the gift of His Holy Spirit that we get the opportunity to do that.