By Danna Shirley
I gave this message in 1996 at the
Charismatic Service at the Hario Chapel, Japan.
Mt 24:12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the
love of many will grow cold.”
Lawlessness (458)--not having, knowing, or acknowledging the
LAW...and what is the law?...the Ten Commandments. Simply the “Thou shalt and
the Thou shalt not’s”... and the two that cover them all ... Love the Lord your
God with all your heart, mind, soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt
22:37-40)
And today because of
how distorted our “freedom” has become, we can’t even display the Ten Commandments
publicly or speak of them, let alone teach them, to our school children. Those
same school children who are growing up and turning to all kinds of
“lawlessness”... Just pick up a newspaper or listen to the news and you’ll get
a good idea of the meaning of “lawlessness.” Is it any wonder that the love of
many will grow cold?
BUT, the Gospel is
called the Good News for a reason. We don’t have to live in vs 12, praise God!
(vs 13)... “BUT he
who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Endures (5278)--to hold one’s ground
in conflict, bear up against adversity, hold out under stress, stand firm,
persevere under pressure, wait calmly and courageously. It is not passive resignation to fate and
mere patience, but the active, energetic resistance to defeat that allows calm
and brave endurance.
Saved (4982)--all the blessings inclusively of God on men in Christ!
salvation, healing, deliverance, preservation
Endure to the end (Jn 17:11)--Jesus prayed for us “Holy Father, keep through Your name those
whom You have given Me...” Are we to believe that God would not answer
Jesus’ prayer...NO...so we are kept by the Holy Father and we SHALL endure to
the end!!!
Now we come to
another very important scripture.
Rev. 3:15-16…
spoken to the church at Laodicea...“I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out
of My mouth.”
Lukewarm (5513)--tepid; (dictionary definition is lacking in passion, force, or
zest; an absence of enthusiasm or conviction)
WOW! Not very flattering, is it? I wouldn’t want
to be described as tepid. God is speaking to Christians here, the “church” at
Laodicea!
Rev 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine
with him, and he with Me." This is a
scripture often given to unbelievers BUT the truth is that these words were
spoken by Jesus to the church...the lukewarm church!
When God gave me
this message, I had to ask this question of MYSELF first:
Am I lukewarm, Lord?
Rev 3:15--Jesus said, “I know your works.” Well, I did have plenty of those! I taught a
Bible study every Wednesday, taught Sunday School, organized Joy Fellowship,
led praise and worship at church, and sometimes brought the message when a
Chaplain wasn’t in port. I wasn’t giving quality time to any of them. I was
overWORKed and as I examined all of this, I realized I had no peace about any
of these works. To identify with a friend, I
had lost my joy. I only had time for
my works and no time for that
relationship with Jesus. So, in essence, I was lukewarm because I had no time
to draw near to God. God showed me that HE
hadn’t called me to all these works. Yes, we are to be zealous for good works
(Titus 2:14) BUT only those works
that HE calls us to do.
So after I looked at
myself and my works, I moved on to the CHURCH. Is the church lukewarm
today? There are God’s brushfires being lit all over the world. We’ve heard
about the Toronto Blessing in Canada (Jan 1994) and the revival in Pensacola,
Florida (June 1995). People are traveling to these places from all over the
country and all over the world…for what? …a blessing, a word, healings, curiosity,
a touch, miracles, skepticism
The Word says God
shows no partiality (Acts 10:34-35) and whoever fears Him and works righteousness (practices God’s
uprightness or standard) is accepted by Him.
We don’t have to
travel to Toronto or Pensacola. We can have it right here. There is a price to
be paid, however, Jesus paid the price. Do we want it bad enough? Are we
satisfied to be lukewarm? Do we want to be vomited out of the Lord’s mouth?
What would it take
to see revival here? Prayer, Fasting, Confession
of Sins (1 Jn 1:8-10), Repentance, Forgiveness, Desiring to see a move of God
in our midst. What price are we willing to pay?
Then I looked at our
NATION? Lukewarm? Well, I see that within our borders we have
abortion as law and pornography as a protected form of free speech; we’ve taken
prayer out of our schools and allowed the religion of evolution to be taught;
we’ve got no-fault divorce that has sent almost two generations of children
reeling from the breakdown of their family; and homosexuality, an abomination
to God, is being popularized by the entertainment industry.
Have you heard it said
that if God lets America off for her embrace of homosexuality, He’ll have to apologize
to Sodom and Gomorrah? I want to make clear that God does not hate gays and
neither should we. God wants to see them called out of darkness and into His
marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
I see being lukewarm
as a wink and a shrug toward those things God is calling us to be on fire and aglow
about.
Romans 12:11 “not
lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
Fervent (aglow) (2204)--to boil with heat, be hot.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and
pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Are we lukewarm or do we want to
be Burning Hot and Aglow in Spirit, serving the Lord?
“Behold, Jesus
stands at the door and knocks...He desires to come in to you.”
