Skip to content Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation | Revelation Part 11 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Apr 10 · 52 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation 0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? It is a joy and a privilege for us to study the Word of God together. Now this morning we're going to talk about Jesus' letter to0:12 the church at Laodicea, Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to 22 and I'm going to title this sermon Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation. Now if0:24 you have been following us for the past few months we covered the first 3 chapters in over 10 messages. This is the eleventh message. Now all these messages are available on0:36 YouTube for you to watch. Now listen carefully to this, when I gave you the outline of the book of Revelation we touched on the first 3 chapters as the0:47 reminders of the King. It is Jesus' reminder, his call in this season to all the churches globally. Today we're going be talking about0:59 overcoming spiritual stagnation from Revelation chapter 3 verses 14 to verse 22. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father we thank you for this day, I pray that the Holy1:11 Spirit will be our teacher, give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to obey your word. We thank you Lord, let Jesus alone be exalted in our midst in Jesus name and the people of God said1:23 Amen and Amen. In 19 89 a study was done among the students from 8 countries with regards to their mathematical1:34 abilities and this is what they found. This is the report. A 19 89 study of mathematical skills compared students in 8 different countries.1:47 American students ranked lowest in mathematical competence and Korean students ranked highest. But the researchers also asked to rate1:59 how good they were at mathematics. They asked the students to rate how good they were in mathematics. The Americans ranked highest in self judged mathematical2:10 ability while the Koreans ranked lowest. This was the conclusion of the report. Mathematical self esteem had an inverse relation to the mathematical2:21 accomplishment. In other words, sometimes feeling good about yourself may simply make you overconfident, narcissistic, and unable to work hard.2:34 Can you imagine this? The Koreans are really good at mathematics and yet when you ask them they had a low opinion of themselves. Whereas the Americans, they2:45 were not good at doing math at that time of research but they ranked highest when they self judged themselves. This is the case of the church at2:57 Laodicea. Jesus is giving them a piercing evaluation, a stinging rebuke but when you hear them in their own words they have3:09 a high opinion of themselves. Look at this in chapter 3 and verse 17, For you say I am rich, I have prospered and I need3:21 nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Look at that pitiful reality.3:33 See they thought that they are doing incredibly well. They would have not expected this kind of a rebuke from Jesus. See this is 1 letter where3:45 Jesus had nothing good to say about the church. There was no doctrinal error but yet there was a very strong rebuke. Why?3:57 The 1 thing that we find in the text is this, that they were self sufficient. In other words, they were affluent. They were rich the Bible says. See4:09 affluence can lead to apathy. In other words economic prosperity often leads to a loss of spiritual dependency upon4:21 Christ. I want you to listen to me carefully. Sometimes when you are so rich, you are so self satisfied, you are so self deceived and you are self4:32 sufficient as a result you withdraw yourself from Christ. Christ becomes of no effect to you and that is the case of the church4:44 at Laodicea. And this kind of arrogance, this kind of pride, I have need of nothing breeds apathy and a half hearted devotion. No4:56 wonder in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 16 Jesus says, Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my5:08 mouth. Look at how Jesus condemns this church. The condemnation is so severe. He says, I will spit you out. In other words I will vomit you, I will puke5:20 you out, I will throw up. This is the state of the church but in their own estimate they thought that they are rich,5:31 prosperous, and in need of nothing. See the church was self satisfied, the church was self sufficient, and the church was self deceived. That is why Jesus is5:43 addressing this church. Let's get into the text. I want you to see how Jesus begins this letter. See over the course of these studies we realize5:55 that every time Jesus reveals something about himself, something about himself that is applicable to the church and what they are going through and the concern that he has for them. So here6:07 again in verse 14 Jesus reveals this about himself. To the angel of the church in Laodicea write, the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the6:19 beginning of God's creation. Hallelujah! 1 of the fundamental things that you and I we need to understand about Jesus is Jesus is truthful,6:30 Jesus is faithful, Jesus is trustworthy but here in this text we see that Jesus is Amen. This is the 1 place in6:42 the Bible where Amen is referred to a person. You know you and I we say amen as though it's a full stop to our prayer but what does amen actually mean? It means this, this6:54 is right, that's right. When someone says, when someone wants to say preach it brother, they say amen. In other words, that's right. Keep it keep preaching. I want you to listen to me. Jesus says, I'm the7:06 amen. So Jesus is amen and not only he is the amen, he is the 1 who speaks the truth. He is the faithful and true witness.7:19 In other words, what he says is true. He is reliable, he is dependable, you can bank on him. And then the bible goes on to say that he is the beginning of God's7:31 creation. See what is the word beginning of God's creation? That word beginning can actually mean the source of all creation, the origin of all creation. In other words, he7:42 is the 1 who inaugurated or initiated the process of creation. So you and I we need to understand that we have Jesus who is true and true. He is the7:54 verily verily in the New Testament and the Bible says what he says is true, you can depend on him, you can trust him and he is the source of all creation. In8:06 other words, he is the source of life, you come to him and this is the 1 who gives a piercing evaluation of the church. 28:18 things I want you to catch from that 1 verse about Jesus. You can trust what he says and you can trust who he is. In other words you can trust Him no matter what you are going through right now8:30 you can trust what He says. In other words He says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. In other words He promises to remain with you, be with you through8:41 thick and thin, through every circumstance of your life. Not only that, you can trust who he is. He is faithful and just to do what he has promised. He is able to complete what he has begun8:53 because he is the source of all creation. Because of who he is, he is able to save you to the uttermost. Hallelujah. So you and I can bank on him no matter what the9:05 situation is. So Jesus is speaking about this, revealing Himself to the church in Laodicea because the church has become so self absorbed,9:17 selfish and they are self reliant, they are self sufficient and they are self deceived. Jesus wants to highlight who he is that in him is life. That you9:28 cannot have life without life. You cannot do much without Christ and he is reminding them this because this truth ought to humble us. When you consider the awesomeness of9:40 Jesus, the truthfulness of Jesus and the Lordship of Jesus it should make a stubborn heart melt and be broken and humble us in9:52 a way that we can come and be Christ dependent. Hallelujah. Here Jesus is calling this church a lukewarm church, A church that10:05 disgusts him. A church that nauseates him and Jesus is calling them to come back to him. The key question I want to ask this morning for us in our study is this,10:16 how can we overcome spiritual stagnation? How can we overcome that lukewarmness in our lives? We got to realize 3 truths that are10:28 found in this text. Truth number 1, realize that there's no time for neutrality. Verse 15 and verse 16, let's read it together. Jesus says, I know10:40 your works, you are neither cold nor hot. I would rather you either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither10:52 cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. I want you to listen to me carefully. There are 2 things that Jesus explains here. 1 is the11:04 condition of lukewarmness that's found in verse 15. It's very subtle but at the same time he also speaks about the consequences of11:15 lukewarmness and this consequence of lukewarmness is very serious. It's in verse 16. Now let's look at it 1 by 1. Verse 15 says, I know your11:27 works. You are neither cold nor hot. I would rather you either cold or hot. In other words Jesus would rather you be cold or hot. What does that actually11:39 mean? See many times I've heard preachers preach that you need to be on fire for Jesus. That means you're hot. But if you are a backslider with no desire for spiritual things then you are11:51 cold and Jesus would rather you be cold or hot but not lukewarm. Is that what it means? Sometimes we don't understand the text12:02 properly because we don't pay attention to the cultural context. How would the first hearers would have heard this message? What would they have understood? For this you need to12:14 understand that the church was in the city of Laodicea and Laodiceans had everything. You heard that before from their own mouth. I'm rich, I'm12:25 prosperous, I have need of nothing. But you know Laodiceans had everything except 1 thing. That 1 thing is good water. A good source12:37 of water because their own water was worthless. It was distasteful. In other words, visitors who would come to, La Vadisia when they drink of the water12:49 sometimes they fall sick even to the point some of them throw up and vomit. You have to understand that Laodicea has no really good water13:00 supply. But they are surrounded by 2 cities in the Phygarian region. The 2 cities are Hierapolis and Colossae. Hierapolis is 613:12 miles north and they are known for their beautiful hot springs. So this is 1 of the source of water for Laodicea. The second source was from Colosse,13:23 Colosse was southeast 10 miles from Laodicea and they are known for their cold refreshing water. What Jesus was highlighting here is13:35 you don't have water but the water you need comes from either Hierapolis or Colossae. See Hierapolis you get the hot springs and you bring13:47 the water from there. There are aqueducts that bring water from Hierapolis all the way down to Laodicea. Now this water by the time it reaches Laodicea it13:59 is lukewarm. It was hot but now it's lukewarm. In Colossae, the water is cold and it's nice and refreshing but by the time it reaches Laodicea it is actually14:11 lukewarm. What Jesus was highlighting is just like your water is lukewarm and sometimes this water comes through this aqueducts which have never been cleaned therefore14:23 there is a mineral rich water that comes in and when it's drunk in a lukewarm state it stinks and it14:35 is polluted. So what Jesus was saying is just like your water you are also useless. See hot water is good.14:46 Why? If you have sore muscles you want to soak in a hot spring and when you soak in a hot spring it relaxes you, it heals you. Cold refreshing water is good, why?14:58 Because it quenches your thirst, it satisfy the weary body. I want you to listen to me, both cold is good and hot is good but lukewarm no good. Why? By the time you15:10 drink that water with the stench and with the mineral rich water, you almost vomit it out. It becomes good for nothing and that is exactly15:22 what Jesus was saying about the church. I would rather you hot because you'll be useful. I would rather you be cold because you'll be effective and useful for the kingdom of God.15:34 But now, you are neither hot nor cold, you are lukewarm. And because you're lukewarm, what he's highlighting is you are worthless,15:45 useless. In other words, you are ineffective in your witness to the world. He's speaking to the Laodicean church and he says, You are distasteful to the15:56 Lord just like your water. See that's the lukewarmness. Now let's look at the consequences of lukewarmness. Verse 16, it's very16:08 serious. Look at this, Because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold I will spit you out of my mouth. Here Jesus says, when I16:20 think of you, when I think of you, when I come alongside you, what I realize is you are smelly, you are stagnant and you are in some16:32 sense I will vomit you out. Listen to me carefully. This is the consequence of lukewarmness. Secondly, we need to realize there's no time16:44 for complacency. That's the second truth. Verse 17, For you say I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.16:57 See the reason for their complacency Jesus gives us. What is the reason for their complacency? Verse 17 says, For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I17:08 need nothing. See again understand the context. Laodicea was a very wealthy city. The reason why they were wealthy is because of17:20 3 things that prospered this city. 1 was their textile industry. They had a particular black sheep that produced a17:32 soft black wool and it was almost considered as the Gucci or Versace of that era and people in Rome loved to wear that black wool. So they17:44 made wealth out of that textile industry. The second 1, because Laodicea is situated in a strategic place, it's almost like there are17:55 2 key trade routes and Laudisia is a center for commerce because it connects the world, the east and the west. As a result it became a commercial center,18:07 banking center and because it was a banking center they had gold there. They had gold. It's like this, if you're flying out of Sydney to go to another country, you go to18:18 the money exchange and you ask for and you trade your currency for the currency of the country that you're traveling to. Same thing,18:30 Lavadisians became the bank, the money exchange and that as a result they advanced in gold coins. Listen, thirdly it says it's a medicine. It18:42 was the finest medical college in whole of Asia Minor was found in Laodicea. In fact they had a very famous product that they produced that was famous around the Asia Minor18:53 region. It's the Figarian powder. It is an eye salve and they had ophthalmologists over there to treat the eye diseases and they are famous for these 3 things and as a19:05 result they were wealthy. Jesus actually says to this church all these 3 things in his letter. You know Jesus speaks19:17 of they clothed, they eye salve, and riches actually in this letter. Later on you'll find this. Why would Jesus use that? Because it is those things that caused them to have those19:28 complacency. It is the reason for their complacency, it's this wealth. There were so many notable citizens, high net worth individuals in their city. In fact in 8019:39 60 there was a massive earthquake that completely destroyed the surrounding cities like Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea and Sardis and Philadelphia asked for19:51 funds from Rome like the Federal Reserve funds, give us funds to rebuild our cities. But Laodicea is the only city that said we don't need your funds, we have enough because our own20:02 citizens gave from their wealth and wealthy people live there and this is 1 of the core things that you and I, we need to understand about the city. Laodiceans20:14 were wealthy. The same thing was among the church. The culture that was prevalent in the city was among the church. The church was a wealthy church. The church20:26 has advanced, the church had massive resources. As a result the church did not need God just like the city did not need the help from Rome. The church says I don't need God. I am self20:38 sufficient, I'm self reliant. As a result they were self deceived. That was the reason for their complacency. Let's look at the reality of their complacency.20:50 Verse 17 second part says Jesus says to them not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Wretched because you are miserable. In other21:02 words you are like a devastated city. It's like you you take pride in your wealth but you actually the state in which you are, your inner state is wretched. Secondly, they21:14 are pitiable. I don't think any Laodicean will ever consider themselves to be pitiable. They will be saying we are people who are enviable. Others should be looking at us and saying I would like to be like21:26 him or that that city but realize this. Jesus says, you are pitiable. In other words, you are to be pitied by others. Thirdly, you are poor even though your commercial21:37 success but spiritually you are bankrupt. Number 4, blind. Even though they talk about their famous eye powder that heals the eye diseases Jesus21:49 says you are spiritually blind. And then number 5, he says you are naked. Even though they take pride in the clothing industry and their clothing22:01 is exported to all the other neighboring cities but yet Jesus says you are naked. See this is what Jesus is trying to highlight.22:13 When you are so self sufficient that self sufficiency sometimes results in apathy and that apathy22:25 causes you to become complacent. There is no heart for God. There is no desire to live as a living witness. There is no desire to depend upon him. Your song will not be like, I22:36 need you every hour. Your song will mostly be like If I need you I'll call you but at the moment I'm fine. I want you to listen to me carefully. This is almost like the22:48 opposite that Jesus said about the church in Smyrna. See the church in Smyrna in Revelation chapter 2 verse 9 he says, They were poor. He knows them of their poverty and yet he says, But23:00 you are rich. They were physically poor, materially poor but spiritually they were wealthy, they were rich. Why? The only rich that matters is the23:12 riches that you have in Christ. The material riches are temporal, they are transient. From Matthew chapter 6 we already established that they are23:23 perishable, they are precarious, they can be stolen, they can rust and be destroyed. I want you to listen to me carefully, don't place your faith upon the riches of this world.23:36 See this text is not saying to us that God doesn't want you to be rich. See many people in the Bible who believed in God like Abraham, Job, they were all very wealthy23:48 but they were wealthy and godly. I want you to listen to me carefully. They didn't trust in their wealth. They trusted in God. They depended upon God so you can be wealthy and still23:59 be God sufficient, Christ sufficient. And this is the point that he was trying to make. Now here the Laodicean church was arrogant, they were condescending, there24:11 was no desperation for God, their witness was absent and as a result Jesus was saying to them, you are as worthless as your water, I'm about to spit you24:23 out. But if the book ends there, if the letter ends there, it's such a pitiable state but the Bible always gives you the hope. Jesus is moving24:35 his church back. Look at the third point, realize there's no time for self sufficiency. Verse 18 to verse 22, there is no time. In other words the time24:47 is running out. In the previous letter Jesus already said behold I am coming again soon. So the time is running out so there is no time to waste on self sufficiency. 1 of the cool things he24:59 calls the church to do is to repent. Repent of your self sufficiency in your life. Look at verse 18 and 19. I counsel you to buy from me gold25:11 refined by fire so that you may be rich and garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen and salve to anoint your eyes25:23 so that you may see. Verse 19, Those whom I love I reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent. The key imperative in that whole verse is that word25:34 repent and it's something that you need to do immediately. Repent of your self sufficiency. Why is Jesus calling us to repent of our self sufficiency? Because we25:46 need 4 things from Christ. What are those 4 things? 1, we need Christ's riches. Look at in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from25:58 me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich. In other words,26:22 may be rich. In other words what he is highlighting is know the difference between the material rich and the spiritual rich. Know what matters in the long run.26:24 other system, you trust in your network, you trust in your portfolio of investments. Can I humbly say this? Jesus is calling his church to place their trust in him. He says buy from me gold. That's the real rich that you26:34 See, if you have nothing but have Christ you have everything. If you have nothing but have Christ you have everything. If you have26:46 everything but you don't have Christ, you have nothing. Let me say that again. If you have everything but don't have Christ, you have nothing. Hallelujah.26:58 Listen to me carefully. Jesus says come to me and buy gold. I can supply all your needs. Don't trust in the systems that will fail but trust in me. See Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 627:10 and verse 10 he said Paul said, I'm poor but yet making others rich. What rich was he talking about? Rich in Christ. The gospel makes us rich in Christ because27:21 we have a wealth that we can access in Christ. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians eight:nine, Jesus became poor so that you through his poverty might become27:33 rich. Rich again spiritually. Ephesians one:three the Bible says, You are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.27:45 As a believer you have to realize whether you have material wealth or no wealth you and I we need to depend upon Christ. In Christ we have spiritual27:57 wealth and that's the true riches that matter, hallelujah. So stop trusting in self and start trusting in Christ so repent. Secondly, we need28:08 Christ's righteousness. He says, White garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen. He is saying to that city that exports clothing all over the world.28:21 He is saying to them stop trusting in Gucci and Versace and Tajai. I want you to listen to me. He says come to me for your garments. In other words, don't28:32 depend on your material garments. Address your true nakedness. See he is not talking about the external physical clothing. He is talking about an internal spiritual28:44 condition. He is not talking about the external physical appearance. He is speaking about the internal spiritual authenticity. He says you need the clothes I'm going to give you.28:55 See as a believer this is the beauty that we have in the Gospel. We trade our ashes for his beauty. We trade our sinfulness for his righteousness. In29:07 other words the Bible says that God took our sin and he imputed it to Christ. He takes Christ's righteousness and he imputes to us. In other words, we have an29:19 imputed garment. This garment is the righteousness of God. It is the righteousness of Christ and the Bible says the more you trust in his righteousness you will reign in life.29:31 Hallelujah. Romans chapter 5 and verse 17, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, they will reign in life through the 1 Jesus Christ. I want you to listen29:42 to me carefully. You are the righteousness of God. That's the only thing that will give you that spiritual covering. That is the only thing that will cover your true nakedness. Listen to me.29:54 Not only we have the imputed righteousness of Christ but we also have the righteous acts because of our obedience to God's Word and as we live out the life that he calls us to live.30:06 The Word of God says that righteous deeds that we do is almost like displaying Christ to the world. That's why Paul in another passage in Romans chapter 13 he says in verse 14,30:19 Put on Christ. So when you put on the righteousness every single day you're putting on Christ. You are wearing his righteousness and when you walk among men your words, your30:31 deeds, your thoughts, your actions, everything resemble Christ to the world. That's the key He wants us to come back to. Repent from your self sufficiency and come back to Christ30:42 sufficiency. Thirdly, we need Christ's remedy. Look at what he says in verse 18, And salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Can you see the picture? They boast30:55 in the medicine that they have produced that will cure eye diseases and yet bible calls them, Jesus calls them, you're blind. But he says come to me and I will give you the anointment that31:07 you need to see spiritually. See there are 3 things he lists here in these 3 verses. You are spiritually poor and he says I have the riches. You are31:18 spiritually naked, I have the garments. You are spiritually blind, I have the I sell for you. In other words he is saying don't depend upon what you have materially. Come to me.31:31 You and I we need to pay attention to this. I am speaking to people living in the western world. People who are considered rich in the world's standards. You may say31:42 but I don't have a high net worth. Can I humbly say this? As long as you have a roof over your shoulder and you have no worries about where your food and your clothing are coming from I tell you what, you're part of the31:54 1 percenter in the world. You, the Bible says, don't put your confidence in your riches. Don't put confidence in the flesh. You've got to come back to32:05 Christ and realize that He is the only 1 who can cause you to see. See, you and I are like that blind beggar in John chapter 9 and verse 25, I was blind32:18 but when I met Jesus now I see. See, when you can see in the spiritual realities then you will not be caught up in these temptations of the world or the world32:29 will grow slightly dim the Bible says. I want you to listen to me church. When you and I, our eyes are open this earthly natural32:41 physical realities will grow strangely dim because you are seeing more and more that eternal glory and the riches that are in Christ and what Christ offers us.32:52 This is a call of Christ for the church to return to Him. It is a call for spiritual renewal. He says, You come to me. When you come to me you get the spiritual renewal. But sometimes33:04 because we are so apathetic and we have been in the place of complacency for a long time Christ has to bring a firm stern rebuke. That's why33:16 we need the fourth thing, we need Christ's rebuke. In verse 19 he says, Those whom I love I reprove and discipline so be zealous and repent. I love that phrase,33:28 whom I love. The motivation why he is calling his church is love. See if you take this letter and you look at the Laodicean church33:40 they are self sufficient, they are self satisfied, they are self deceived but Christ did not leave them in that pitiable state. Christ actually wooves them back. It's like a bridegroom trying to33:52 win his bride. The Bible says He loves us because He loves the church. He died for the church. He gave his life for the church and now34:04 he's trying to woo the church back to himself. He's saying stop doing what you're doing, repent and if you don't repent in time he says I will reprove and34:16 discipline you and part of that disciplinary process is to bring us back to that place where we can be zealous. What is zealous? Start becoming passionate. Start34:27 living for Jesus. Start living as a witness. Start trusting in him. Experiencing that Christ sufficiency in all of life and that is34:39 exactly what he is calling us to. It is the opposite of lukewarmness and apathy. The second thing that I want you to pay attention to is not only He is calling us to repent of our self sufficiency34:52 but He is calling us to receive a Christ sufficiency for your life. In verse 20 He says, Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into35:03 him and eat with him and he with me. See many times when you read this verse this verse is often quoted in altar calls as though we are calling the35:15 pre believers to come to faith in Christ. He is standing at the door and he is knocking on the door of your heart. Open your door and invite him into your life. But he is actually speaking to a church. These are35:27 already saved people and he is speaking to them and he is saying to them, I am standing at the door and I am knocking on your door. Open the door of your heart. Let me come in and commune with you.35:39 See I want you to listen to me carefully, the context here is this, Laodicea was a wealthy city. All the surrounding cities at nighttime they would keep their doors of the35:51 city open for strangers, for travelers who are coming in weary so that they can find some accommodation even in the middle of the night. But Laodicea is the only36:03 city that is shut. The doors are shut at night. Why? Because they are wealthy so they are afraid of bandits that will come and steal. Here the church symbolically have36:15 also closed shut Jesus out. Jesus is standing outside of the church and He is knocking on the door of the church and He is saying, Open the door so I might come in. I want you to listen to me36:26 carefully. Jesus is calling us to come to Him. Why? He is asking, Let me come in. See this is, and I we need to understand Gospel. Gospel36:38 is this, that 1 day you died you died in Christ, you were raised in Christ, now you are united in Christ. There is a union that you have with Christ. But this36:50 is not talking about union, it's talking about communion. He is asking us to come and have fellowship with Him. He is saying, It's been a while since you opened the pages of Scripture and spent time with37:02 me. It's been a while since you shared and poured out what's in your heart. It's been a while since you had that intimacy with me. See it's like a husband and wife isn't it?37:14 Husband and wife can be very busy on a day to day basis. They could be busy looking after the children, attending to immediate needs in the family, going to work,37:26 doing all that and especially in this lockdown season there's a heightened need for us to be on the ball balancing act. I want you to listen to me. What is neglected is that intimacy37:37 between a husband and wife, that intimate time. Even though you are in the same house 20 fourseven because of lockdown Yet it doesn't mean that you have communion. It just means37:49 that you are doing transactions together but it's not a transformational relationship. I want you to listen to me. If you ask yourself this fundamental question, are we really38:01 intimate? Many times the wife will be the 1 who will say, I don't feel intimate, don't feel close, I don't feel drawn in, I just feel like I'm a workhorse just working, working, working. The husband might say, yes I'm38:12 also working, working, working but there is no time to come and have that communion. You are together but you don't have that intimacy. That's exactly what Jesus is saying. You38:24 are in the Kingdom of God. You belong to Christ but yet you do not appreciate the resources that He has. You feel like you can live life without Him. You have shut Him out of38:36 your life. You will only turn to Him if the report from the doctor is bad or if that accountant calls you and says you are in the red. You can't survive like this in your business. I want you to listen to me carefully.38:47 Don't wait for those crisis for you to come back to him. What Christ is calling you to do is open the doors of your heart. I'm knocking on the door. I'm wooing you back. Open the door. So I might come in and when38:59 I come in I want to dine with you. Why does He talk about a meal? I believe He is speaking about the last meal that he did with his disciples. It's a significant thing39:11 isn't it? The communion, the Lord's table. Because every time we come in union with Christ we are reminded of what he has done. The body that was broken, the blood that was shed and weShow more In this video 0:00 Overcoming Spiritual StagnationComments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
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