Neither Cold Nor Hot

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: General | Jul 1972

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot.

I would thou wert cold or hot.... As many as I love,

I reprove and chasten" (Rev. 3:15,19).

One of the dangers facing the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is described for us in this message to the church in Laodicea. Perhaps it faces disciples in the churches of God more than others, because of the sense of security which positional truth brings. The sin of Laodicea was lukewarmness; they were neither cold nor hot. They had correct position and procedure, but Christ was absent from their hearts. They had the shell, but not the kernel. Probably their meetings were well attended and their financial position was sound. They lacked nothing BUT CHRIST! And so He came and knocked at their hearts, asking to be admitted, and promising to come in if they would invite Him.

He reproved them because He loved them, and, if need be, He would also chasten them. Let the wise take heed I The Lord is not like unwise parents who fail to chasten their children, and often mourn over them later. The Lord both reproves and chastens those He loves.

How does this condition of lukewarmness begin? It begins in secret in the private life. It may begin in the failure to pray and praise in secret. Or it may begin in some grudge that is held in the heart, or in some apparently small sin that is covered over, unconfessed and unforgiven. The most common cause is probably the failure to commune with the Lord in secret.

We may pray in public, and yet have little secret prayer with God. If we do so, then we court disaster in our own lives, and we stifle the spiritual lives of others. The Lord specially warned against the hypocrisy of public prayer, when secret prayer is absent (Matt. 6:5-8). Let us guard against this.

And how seductive is the love of "things", and of money. The affluent society is a great breeder of lukewarmness, and those of us who live in it must be careful. It is not easy to pray earnestly when we have every good thing. Nor is it easy to spend our time reaching others with the gospel when we have so many opportunities of going places and seeing things. But if our hearts are fixed on unseen and eternal things (2 Cor. 4:18), and if we glory in nothing save in the Cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal. 6:14), then indeed everything else will take its right place. But if we do not have the vision of that glorious throne set on high from the beginning (Jer. 17:12), then surely,

little by little, we shall be lulled into lukewarmness, even while the dark shadow of world change looms over us, and the Lord's coming draws near.

What is the cure for lukewarmness? It is Christ! "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", He said, "If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me". It is a personal, individual matter. It is not the church that opens the door, it is each individual saint, alone with the Lord. We may individually need to weep our way back to Him from our lukewarmness; back to the warm fellowship with the Father and with the Son. "I will come in" He said; and so He will, just as soon as we open the door of our hearts.

What will happen if we do not invite Him to come in? if we go on with our own plans, and our complacent lukewarmness? Then in His mercy (because He loves us) He may chasten us, and in this way save us from our self-love, so that we should no longer live unto ourselves but unto Him who for our sakes died and rose again.

Let us heed His reproof, and let us betake ourselves to the quiet place, to invite Him to come and sup with us, and we with Him. Let us do this every day. Let us remember the promise that He made, "He that overcometh (lukewarmness, etc.) I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne". Let us give heed to this word by the Holy Spirit to the churches. This will cause reviving in our souls.

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Jul 1972
General