“So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Rev. 3:16
The standard in doctors’ offices for as long as I can remember is to weigh a patient, take his or her pulse, blood pressure, and oh, yes, his or her temperature. Apparently this is considered essential in determining the state of the patient’s health. There is a healthy range for all of this, isn’t there, as well as a range considered not healthy at all. I feel compelled by the Spirit of God to encourage you to take your temperature, not to mention your pulse and blood pressure. But I’m not speaking of your physical health. This is about where you stand when it comes to the Lord and your life on this earth not to mention your eternity.
An everlasting relationship with the Lord, fellowship with Him here on earth and forever in heaven, rather than perpetual torment apart from God in hell and the lake of fire, is for those who repent and believe Jesus Christ is Lord and died on the cross for them and was raised from the dead, for those who place their trust in Christ as Lord and commit their lives to Him, who give up their way of self-centered sinful living and live for Christ by God’s Spirit according to God’s Word, but countless people I am afraid have bought into the lie and deception and convinced themselves that everlasting life is for those who simply intellectually believe Christ is Lord, go to church and read the Bible – or not, celebrate Christmas, call themselves Christians, come from Christian families, wear a cross, and, oh, yes, pray, etc.
Why am I compelled to encourage you who read this to take your temperature? As well as your blood pressure and pulse? Because the Lord Jesus Christ makes abundantly clear He will SPIT OUT, SPUE OUT, VOMIT OUT those who are lukewarm regarding God almighty. Blood pressure is taken to see the condition of someone’s heart. What is your temperature? Are you on fire for the Lord? Are you deeply passionate toward Him, deeply reverent, deeply honoring, deeply dedicated, deeply worshiping, deeply loving and serving, deeply seeking, hearing, and obeying, deeply studying His Word, deeply living by it, deeply filled with His Spirit and devoted to being led by His Spirit? What is the state of your heart toward God?
What about your pulse? Someone with a very low pulse is in danger of dying, is he not? I am sad to say in my evangelism work countless people I come across who call themselves Christians express little if any at all passion for the Lord, have no interest in studying the Bible, spend virtually no time if any at all with Him, let alone seeking Him, have no desire to hear and obey Him, are living no differently, or hardly any differently than the rest of the world, yet are convinced they are Christians who will one day go to heaven. I cross paths with people continuously because of my evangelism work, and I am devastated, and grieve, to tell you that countless people like the people I have just described fill up the pews in church buildings.
When the nurse weighs us and takes our temperature, our pulse and blood pressure, and finds something wrong, we are warned and told to do something about it and we choose to do something about it if we are wise and care about our physical health.
Is there anything more important in the universe when it comes to the condition of our heart and life and the need to make necessary changes than the state of where we stand with the Lord Jesus Christ and our eternity? Is this message for you?