Join us as we explore what it means to truly follow Christ in a world that idolizes prosperity over spiritual health. David shares candid insights that challenge us to reflect on our spiritual state. Are we truly hot, cold, or merely lukewarm in our faith? Listen in to understand how material wealth can often mask our deeper spiritual impoverishment, and how we can turn back to the rich abundance available through Christ.
I was watching Christian television several years ago and heard a speaker say that God wants us rich. That is a lie. Oh, he wants you rich in the Lord. But the Bible does not say that God wants us rich. I went through and began to read what the Bible says to the rich. You know, God’s always warning the rich. You want to know what God said to the rich? He said, give it to the rest of us who need your money. My translation, but it’s sort of there.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking as we return to one of the most sobering messages Jesus ever spoke to a church. In Revelation 3, verses 14-22, his words to Laodicea cut through complacency with surgical precision. They thought they were just fine. They were rich, respectable, self-sufficient. But Jesus saw the truth. They were wretched, blind, and spiritually naked. Today, David walks us through the next section of this passage and the stunning invitation Jesus offers to those who still have ears to hear. Grab your Bible and let’s continue this powerful message by David called Material Prosperity. First, that we sure appreciate our listening family that takes time to give us a call, tell us how God is working in their lives as they listen to the broadcast or maybe send a note by mail. In fact, we highlight a number of those responses recently in our current newsletter. You can get that, by the way, if you don’t already. Give us a call for that. But this note in particular is from Joyce. What does she have to say?
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She said she listens in the afternoon and on weekends at night, and she totally enjoys the lessons. She goes, God bless you for these. And I love that because God bless you. So she’s keeping them. She’s keeping them in her heart, and she’s listening to them at work and at home. It’s awesome.
SPEAKER 01 :
I think she has a note, something about sending a gift as she’s able. Yeah, and she’s 88 years. old 88 years old yeah joyce thank you and god bless uh for you taking the time to get in touch with us folks if you would like to get in touch with us if you have a prayer request or maybe a comment how god is working in your life as you study god’s word with us well do get in touch we’ll tell you a bit later how to do that right now here’s david with today’s study
SPEAKER 03 :
Revelation chapter 3, beginning in verse 14. It’s the church at Laodicea. And our subject, we’ve tried to say something each time to characterize the church. This one, material prosperity. You think it might be a message for us today? You say, well, I’m out of work. You’re still better off than most of the world. A lot of us are out of work, a lot of us having a difficult time, but yet even the worst among us are better off than millions in this world. Material prosperity has literally dominated our culture. The issue of material prosperity dominating and controlling God’s church and taking their hearts far away from him. Revelation chapter 3 beginning at verse 14. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. For those of you who like to outline, First of all, in verse 14, we’ve got to look at the identity of Jesus Christ. His identity here reminds us that we are to trust him fully and depend upon him completely, something that the church of Laodicea was not doing. The second thing I draw to your attention in the next three verses, verses 15 to 17, is that his insight as to their spiritual condition reminds us that we cannot hide from God. Now his identity reminds us we’re to trust him fully, depend on him completely, something that church was not doing. But his insight, his knowledge as to our spiritual condition reminds us that we cannot hide from God. Who do we think we are? God knows everything about every one of us. How interesting that that word which appears in all the letters, I know thy works. But he goes into no detail describing the blessing of their works. He just says, I know what you’ve been doing. To every one of us, the Lord Jesus could stand in front of us and look at us with those piercing eyes and say, I know everything you’ve been doing. I mean, you don’t even want to hear what he knows, right? just knowing that he knows it is awesome enough to cause you to shake and be nervous. I know all that you’ve been doing. Now when he describes them, he describes them in two basic ways. And what an indictment this is. Number one, His insight exposes this first fact, that they were indifferent, indifferent to the work of the Lord. Are you? They were indifferent to the work of the Lord, absolutely complacent. The Bible describes it as being lukewarm. Let’s take a look at it. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Now, at this point, we have this gigantic argument among Christians as to whether they’re Christians or not. Here’s the way it goes. The cold are unbelievers. Now, I’ve been through this a number of times. and have done it also with students in class and have gone through this big argument deal. But I’m going to give you my view for whatever it’s worth. It is obvious, is it not, that this is called a church. But that doesn’t mean all the people in it are believers, does it? Where exactly was Jesus, according to this letter? He was outside, knocking on the door. Wait a minute, I thought he was supposed to be in the midst of it. He is outside the door, according to verse 20. Knocking at the door. Trying to get in. Now, let’s just think about this a little bit more. Turn to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. There are a lot of people who say, don’t try to describe the cold or the hot. The point is just to realize that lukewarm people he spews out of your mouth. Now, wait a minute. If the Lord spewed you out of his mouth, doesn’t that suggest a slight twinge of rejection? Huh? There are so many Christians who want to say, well, he loves this. I mean, he just can’t stand the taste of you for a while. For a while, he threw you out of his mouth. He didn’t want anything to do with you. We’re talking absolute rejection here. And yet it’s people who claim to be Christians. Is it not more logical that the cold… as they have no warmth whatsoever, would in fact be unbelievers. He’d wish that you’d be cold because we present the gospel to you, now you receive Christ and be saved. We don’t have a problem. Is it not possible that the hot are true Christians? And is it not possible that the lukewarm is the problem that we have in this generation of many people who say they’re Christians but in fact are not and are going to be spewed out of his mouth? is not the message of Laodicea, not some sort of strange comfort to those of us who aren’t walking with the Lord, but is in fact an indictment and rebuke and challenge to people who say they’re Christians and go along with it and do everything that everybody else does, but in fact are lost. Oh, I think the latter is definitely the truth. Turn to Matthew chapter 7. It seems sad to me that we must give comfort to so much to those who are living like the devil, caring little for Christ, and saying, oh, but they received Christ a few years ago. My friends, if people could live like the devil and it doesn’t pain their hearts, there’s no pain, there’s no hurt, there’s no suffering, there’s no grieving, there’s no remorse, they don’t feel any sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, they are in fact revealing they’re unbelievers, not believers. And we’re giving false comfort to people. When people can keep on sinning and it does not bother them, they’re giving evidence that they’re not Christians, for the Bible tells us the Spirit will war against the flesh, and these are contrary one to another, so you cannot do the things that you want. Those who are true believers know it’s a war. Those who are true believers are hurt when they sin, because they know it grieves the Holy Spirit who is within them, and they are miserable. And you show me somebody that doesn’t have that pain, doesn’t have that grief, doesn’t have that misery, could keep on sinning and it doesn’t bother them, and you are talking about somebody who’s not a born-again believer. They’re lost. And we live in a generation where all you have to do is sign the roll, sign the little slip, say all the right words, and supposedly you’re in the in-group. I plead with you, we want you to go to heaven with us. And some people go along with this for years and won’t even let their kids know that they’ve never made a personal commitment to Christ. We can all go through the motion. We can shine in the presence of others and be absolute hypocrites because we have not been born of the Spirit of God. There’s no spiritual life there. We’re just going through it all. And sad but true, many churches allow this to exist because they will not preach what God says in a word. It’s the word of God that will convict our hearts and cause us to turn to the Lord. And a lot of us don’t want to hear it. We want to be entertained. We don’t want to be warned. But we must be warned. Why? Because Jesus said in the last day, there are not just a few people scattered around like this. There are many people. I bring before you Matthew 7, 21. Jesus said, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? We proclaim, we preached in your name. And in thy name have cast out demons. Remember, unbelievers do that. They did it in New Testament times. They still do it today. and in thy name have done many wonderful works. Look at all they’re doing. How could they be so wrong? Easy. The devil can transform himself into an angel of light, his ministers to ministers of righteousness, so the demons of hell can literally appear to be so wonderful. Verse 23, then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. To that church he said, I know your works. I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I ask every person in this audience whether or not we have done what the scriptures say, and that’s to examine ourselves whether we be in the faith. Forget thinking about the person next to you. Ask yourself before God, am I personally committed to Jesus Christ as my Lord and my Savior? Oh, it’s easy to go along. Family members embarrassed, unable to communicate their faith, and want the whole family to recognize that they are, quote, church people and good Christians. Excuse me, there’s a lot of people in that category who have never been born again. Back to Revelation 3. Serious stuff. They were indifferent to the work of the Lord. And that’s the best we can say because according to the Bible, that lukewarm condition, he spews them out of his mouth. When you can take or leave spiritual things, when it’s no real big deal to you, you better watch out. Lukewarm. Lukewarm. But they were not only indifferent to the work of the Lord, number two, they were insensitive to their own spiritual need. Oh, my friends, listen to me. It’s subtle, but it can be so prevalent in any one of our lives. We become insensitive to our own spiritual need. Let’s look at the reason. Why did that happen? Why does that happen in anybody’s life? Verse 17, because, here’s the reason, because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and know not. Because you are being, quote, blessed. Because you are materially well off. You are doing okay. That’s all it means. A lot of people become Christians in order to achieve that. The name it and claim it game. I was watching Christian television several years ago and heard a speaker say that God wants us rich. That is a lie. Oh, he wants you rich in the Lord. But the Bible does not say that God wants us rich. I went through and began to read what the Bible says to the rich. You know, God’s always warning the rich. You want to know what God said to the rich? He said, give it to the rest of us who need your money. My translation, but it’s sort of there. You ever notice what it does to you when you got money in your pocket? You feel so like, you know, you got it made. I’ve watched people go into, I used to work in a restroom many years ago when I was in high school. It was amazing to me. People thought they could get any table they want, man. They just flip out the money, you know, and Yeah, you give me that table, can’t you, over there in the corner? No, I charge a lot more for that. I mean, what are people doing, huh? This is like one giant snow job, you know? I was on a plane once and sitting on one of those three seat deals with two other guys. They were businessmen and they were snowing one another. I mean, it was a scream. And this one guy says, yeah, we’ve got quite a place in Newport Beach. And I thought to myself, yeah, and I bet the bank owns it too. But they were just going on and on. The other guy said, yeah, well, we had a boat, but we don’t need that. We decided to get a mountain cabin. It just went like that the whole time, and I was just feeling like, that’s what I wanted to do, you know? No wonder God says that’s what he wants to do. What’s the reason behind this problem? Because you say you’re rich and you’re increased with goods and you don’t need anything? What’s the reality here? Five descriptions. Look at them carefully. Number one, you know not that you are wretched, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. How interesting. Interesting. those who are broken to the point they just recognize their absolute need before God, and without Him they’re nothing, are going to inherit the kingdom of God. But those who think that they are rich in the world’s goods had better think again. Poor. You’ve got nothing, God said. You think you’ve got everything? You’ve got nothing. And he says, you’re blind. Used 54 times, many, many times of those who are blind to spiritual truth. Romans 2.19 says, you want to guide people? What are you, a leader of the blind? Blind people leading blind people. You can’t see. 2 Peter 1.9 discusses the blindness of our hearts when we’re not growing in the Lord, we’re not developing in the Lord. All of a sudden our spiritual eyesight is diminishing. We don’t see correctly anymore. He’s talking about the reality of their condition. His insight into their true spiritual condition is that we cannot hide from God. I know what you’re like, he said. I know your works. And he said, you’re naked, verse 17. These people who had such beautiful clothes and gorgeous garments. The whole Roman Empire wanted them. Fifteen times he uses the word naked to describe somebody who’s not saved. You are naked and you need the garments of the Lord. It’s used frequently in the book of Revelation as well. We’ve talked about the identity of Christ that should remind us to trust Him fully and depend on Him. He’s totally reliable. He’s the Amen. He’s the infallible one, the unchangeable one. He is the beginning of it all. We should trust Him. He knows what He’s doing. His plan is operating in the world according to what He designed. But instead we think we’re in charge?
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David returns in just a moment, and just before that, if you’ve ever wondered why this world seems so deeply entrenched in evil, why wrong is celebrated and right is canceled, well, Matt and I have a resource from David that may just give you some much-needed clarity and hope.
SPEAKER 02 :
True freedom is inseparable from recognizing God’s absolute sovereignty and his righteous standards. This belief was very much a part of America’s founding fathers, and it provided guidance to correct that which was flawed. Today, however, we face an alarming crisis. Like so many nations, we are drifting far from biblical moorings.
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There’s a daily onslaught, an onslaught of news showing the erosion of morality and the abandonment of God’s absolute truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
You know, the prophet Jeremiah stated, for my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. That’s Jeremiah 2.13.
SPEAKER 01 :
But Matt, there is still hope. Amen. Our Lord graciously invites us to repentance and humility, and back to righteousness. 2 Chronicles 7.14
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You know, this is a critical moment for spiritual renewal.
SPEAKER 01 :
It’s a time to rekindle our dedication to God’s eternal commandments. Yeah, and to once again shine brightly as a beacon of righteousness. That is it. That is it. Well, we strongly encourage folks to get a copy of your dad’s book, David Hawking’s book, Whatever Happened to Morality? This month, we’ll send it to you as our thanks for your gift donation of $20 in support of Hope for Today’s Ministry.
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It provides timeless biblical guidance on reclaiming our spiritual heritage and shares hope for getting back on the path back to God and His everlasting truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Whatever happened to morality? Our thanks for your gift donation, $20 or more this month. To make your most generous donation of $20 or more and receive a copy of Whatever Happened to Morality, call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. or go to davidhawking.org. And while you’re on the website, grab David’s complete study notes from the book of Revelation for our current radio series. You can receive these as a printed set or as an instant download. Either way, just $10. And again, you can call those same numbers or download your copy of the Revelation series study notes at davidhawking.org. If you’d like to send a gift by mail, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO 7 Oaks, Abbotsford, BC, V2S 8P1. Well, as promised, here again is David.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thanks for listening, friends. We’re in Chapter 3 of Revelation. If you missed one of these broadcasts, hey, you can go to our website, davidhocking.org, and you can pick up one that you might have missed and listen to it again. Also, we have HFT Media, and that’s where you can find the entire series of Revelation, all there for you to both watch and listen. So let’s understand. This is God’s Word. It’s the Messiah and His message to the churches. And I hope that everything that we say today will only stir your heart and maybe your whole church to get right with the Lord. God calls them lukewarm because they think they’re rich. They have anything they want. They have need of nothing. And God says, you don’t even know that you are wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Wow! The Lord’s pretty strong with His condemnation of this place. And He says, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. Wow, this is a fabulous message to our hearts. God bless you.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, thank you, David. And next time on the program, Jesus delivers his final word to the church Laodicea. And you know something? It’s not gentle. He calls out the danger of spiritual complacency and exposes the truth behind their outward success. They thought they had it all. But in reality, they didn’t even realize that they were spiritually bankrupt. Don’t miss the conclusion of this eye-opening message from Revelation 3, 14-22 called Material Prosperity. We’ll see you then, right here on Hope for Today.
Join us as we explore what it means to truly follow Christ in a world that idolizes prosperity over spiritual health. David shares candid insights that challenge us to reflect on our spiritual state. Are we truly hot, cold, or merely lukewarm in our faith? Listen in to understand how material wealth can often mask our deeper spiritual impoverishment, and how we can turn back to the rich abundance available through Christ.
