I. Rev.3:17-18
A. Vomiting isn’t something we like to talk about, much less do. It’s one of those ugly realities we all experience, but rarely discuss.
1. Once in a while, we feel so disgusted about something that we say, “I feel like I’m going to puke.”
2. Jesus uses this same language in His letter to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:15–16 — “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
3. This has left a lot of people wondering what Jesus means here by this lukewarmness which makes Him nauseous, especially since He says, He’d rather have us hot or cold than lukewarm.
4. And one of the reasons we’re confused is because we miss the all-important “For” in v.17.
5. Revelation 3:17–18 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
6. So whatever lukewarm means, it’s here in v.17-18.
7. So, how does this help explain what Jesus means by lukewarmness?
8. It seems to me that the lukewarmness is a result of an unfitting mixture: someone who is hot in the way he thinks about himself but cold in the way he really is: “You think you’re doing great but really you’re doing terrible.” That hot and cold put together equals lukewarmness.
9. Jesus wishes we were either hot or cold. In other words, He wishes we were either thinking we’re doing well and actually doing well — that would be hot, or that we were doing badly and recognizing the fact that we were doing badly — that would be cold. But since they’re doing badly but think they’re doing well, they are lukewarm which makes Jesus nauseous.
B. When you read through the Bible, do you ever find yourself? This is where I find myself.
1. I hate this about myself, but this is me. This is the direction my heart goes.
2. It’s so easy for me to forget that I am “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
3. It’s so easy for me to feel healthy when I’m actually sick, and therefore go along without going to the doctor. Jesus Himself told us He was the good physician and that He came not for the healthy but for the sick (Mark 2:17). And if you look carefully at what He says, it’s clear that He actually means that everybody’s sick and that He came for those who know they’re sick.
C. Sometimes our assessment of ourselves is quite opposite of the Lord’s assessment of us. Jesus is trying to help us think rightly about ourselves and about Him. And it begins with recognizing that in ourselves we are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
D. And so we must ask ourselves whether we really know that we are:
1. wretched: we are completely and utterly miserable and empty without Christ
a. Have we learned yet how miserable our lives are without Christ?
2. pitiable: pathetic, worthy of being felt sorry for
a. Think about the people we feel sorry for as soon as we see them: pictures of deformed people or impoverished people, or enslaved people.
3. poor: we have absolutely nothing without Christ, in ourselves we are utterly resourceless/helpless
4. blind: On our own, we don’t see things as they really are. We might think we do, but we don’t!
a. One of the biggest problems of human nature is that we are so capable of deceiving ourselves.
5. naked: In the Bible, nakedness represents shame, and clothing covers our shame.
a. The idea here is that only the white robes of Christ can cover our shame.
b. Some of us do not have eyes to see our shame, but it’s there in living color.
E. But that’s just where it begins. We need not only to be aware of our weakness and need, we also need confidence in God’s gracious provision.
1. V.18 “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.”
2. Sometimes folks know very well how wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked they are, but they end up hopeless because they think their weakness and need is more powerful than God’s grace.
3. Though sin is shown to be wide and deep, God’s grace is wider and deeper still.
4. We have to believe what God tells us: that He has riches for those who come to Him and robes of righteousness to clothe those who put their hope in Him, that He opens the eyes of those who admit they’re blind and look to Him, that a broken & contrite spirit He does not despise -Ps.51:17.
5. You see, sometimes Satan whispers in our ear, “You got this. You have what it takes. You are a winner.” And sometimes he whispers, “You are so worthless, so unworthy of being loved. God can’t help you.” He wants us to think our sinfulness is more powerful than God’s grace.
6. No! The two keys are: seeing our own need, and seeing God’s readiness to receive us in our need.
F. And notice that the remedy Jesus offers is qualitatively different than what they have:
1. gold refined by fire = real riches
2. white garments = real clothing
3. salve = real healing
II. Application
A. This doesn’t just relate to our lives in general, it relates to each day as we wake up and face it.
1. Everyday I should wake up and humble myself. I should go down to my knees before I rise up to my life in this world. I should clothe myself with the self-emptying Christ, and pick up my cross before heading out to my day.
2. Jesus said, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. He who weeps now will laugh later. He who laughs now will weep later. Blessed are the hungry now, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matt.5, Luke 6)
3. Therefore I should “humble [my] self before the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He might lift {me} up.” (1Pet.5:6)
4. I should come to Jesus in my weakness, wretchedness, pitiableness, blindness and nakedness, coming to Him to receive gold for my poverty, white garments for my nakedness and healing salve for my eyes. Then I can head into my day rich in Him, clothed with Him & able to see.
5. Why should God bless my day if I won’t humble myself enough to ask for His blessing? Remember God despises the proud. When I begin my day as if I am rich and prosperous and there is nothing that I need, I am being proud.
6. You see, when I don’t come to Jesus at the beginning of each day, it isn’t because of busyness or self-discipline. It’s because of pride. It’s just another way of saying, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.”
B. The world is right that being able to approach one’s life with confidence is important. But there’s a big difference between confidence in oneself and confidence in God. That’s the difference highlighted in this passage.
C. The world basically calls us to think positively about ourselves. But Jesus calls us to:
1. Recognize our desperate need
2. Recognize His enormous supply
3. Come to Him in faith
D. Have you ever done this? Why not do it today?
E. In the Bible God says over and over again that He despises the proud and gives grace to the humble.
F. In Rev.3:17-18 He says basically the same thing. “You make Me nauseous when you act like you are self-sufficient. But I am so ready to reach out to you in grace and give you all kinds of help when you humble yourselves and come to Me in faith.”