Hot or Cold - Not Lukewarm.

I love to take long, hot showers. There is nothing better in life than a hot shower. I may be giving away too much information here, but I'm a morning shower person. I love standing under the pounding spray of hot water each morning because it completely awakens me and gets me ready for the day ahead. Did I note that I said hot water? However, lukewarm was the shower experience I had this morning. It was not cold or hot, just lukewarm. Despite how I turned the knob all the way to hot, it was lukewarm. While many say that it's best to shower in lukewarm water, I'm not a very big fan of lukewarm. This is how Jesus feels about some of us, and it’s annoying to Him when we are lukewarm. Just as I don't care for lukewarm water, Jesus is not pleased with lukewarm Christians'.  Just look at what God tells the Laodicean church. In Revelation 3:15 -16 he says, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

In Revelation 3:16, this verse addresses three different spiritual temperatures: hot, cold, and lukewarm. Question, when you hear the words hot, cold, or lukewarm --- where does your mind directly take you? So that we are all on the same page as we think about these three words, may I suggest that we use them as a means of examining our relationship with God. When it comes to our relationship with God our temperature matters to Jesus, and believe it or not, we fall into one of three categories…hot, cold or lukewarm. However, we never need to fall into the lukewarm category. According to Adrian Rogers "Lukewarmness is that state of being a little too cold to be hot and a little too hot to be cold; no fire, zeal or enthusiasm for the things of God."  In Christ’s letter to Laodicea, the Laodiceans were described as neither hot nor cold. They were described as lukewarm. If we are honest with ourselves, we must ask ourselves the question, "Am I hot, cold, or lukewarm?" Any one of us can be hot, cold or lukewarm on any given day, but Jesus would rather that we be either hot or cold (when it comes to our relationship with Him), but never lukewarm. If I can be honest, I know at times in my relationship with God I have felt completely lukewarm. During those periods, I don't feel like spending time in His Word, in prayer, or in worship. But that's when I have to ask God to reset my love and zeal for Him. I have to hit the restart button spiritually in my life. You see, the devil wants us to be lukewarm, and not spend too much time thinking about our relationship with God. But we must not let ourself get there, or let ourself become spiritually lukewarm, spiritually useless, indifferent toward God.

CONCLUSION
All of us have areas in our lives where we are lukewarm. But spiritually speaking, we must not allow our relationship with God to become lukewarm. God is not happy with lukewarm relationships. In fact, Jesus says in His revelation to the Apostle John precisely what He will do with lukewarm Christians: “So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16). If this describes you, you don’t have to live as a Lukewarm Christian, you can make peace with Jesus. In Revelation 3:20, God tells us how to open ourselves up to Him: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: 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.” None of us are perfect, in fact we are far from it, but we must desire to be hot for Christ, and not be content with being lukewarm.

Ye Must Be Born Again! (John 3:1-7)

Most of us like to celebrate birthdays. Birthdays are important days although we don't like to be reminded of our age, some people celebrate two birthdays a year. That's the day they were born, and the day they were born again. On August 11, 1982 I was born to the proud parents of Albert and Vanessa Bender. I am thankful that God for that day. However, there's an even more significant date that I remember each year, the day that I was born again, on April 10, 2011. To the unsaved, being born again makes no sense, but that's because many people don't have a complete explanation of what it means to be “born-again.”

To understand what it means to be born-again, it is necessary to understand that there are two births. The first birth is the physical birth when you're born into this world from your parents. The second birth is a spiritual birth, which means to be born of the “Spirit”.

In Chapter 3 of John's Gospel, Jesus said “except a man be born again, he cannot SEE the Kingdom of heaven.” In verse 5, Jesus repeated his statement when he told Nicodemus, “You must be born again”. Initially Nicodemus thought that Jesus was talking about a second physical birth (John 3:4). Nicodemus, like most of us was trying to understand how a person go back into our mother's womb and start life all over again, or how can an adult can go back and be born all over again as a baby. But Jesus went out to make it plain that he was speaking of a second birth that was spiritual (John 3:5-13).  

 

What is it to be Born Again?

Being born again is explained by Jesus in that being born again is a new birth. He also called it being saved. Jesus also explained the second birth by saying that the natural birth brings us into the world as a natural person. However, when a person Believe (Hebrews 11:6), Confess Christ (Romans 10:10), Repent of Sin (Acts 2:38), Be Baptized for Remission of Sin (Mark 16:16)  in the name of Jesus --- the Holy Spirit enters that person, and he experiences a spiritual birth. This spiritual birth changes the person on the inside so that it is just like starting a whole new life. Paul said that this spiritual birth makes us become a new person. Ezekiel 36:25-27 prophesied of this spiritual rebirth by saying: A "new heart" and "new spirit" is the promise of spiritual regeneration. "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances".

 

CONCLUSION

The greatest gift that I ever got was when I received the gift of salvation years ago on April 10, 2011. That’s when I was born for the second time! Today I celebrate my second birth, the day I believed, confessed Christ, repented of my sins, baptized in the name of JESUS and received the Holy Spirit. If you want to know more about what I am talking about I would be happy to share with you how you can know for sure that you are a child of God. Remember, every one of us has a birthday because we all have experienced a physical birth. But there’s another birth we all can experience! Jesus talked about the need for each of us to have a “spiritual” birth. He said “You must be born again” (John 3:1-7). Jesus said this new birth is necessary in order to enter heaven. Have you been born again, my friend?