"NOR HOT, NOR COLD"

Christians come in many shapes, sizes, colours and ages these days—they always have—but the important question is whether they are hot or cold for the Lord. Remember His words to the church of the Laodicians (Rev.3:16):
"I wish you were either hot or cold, but since you are not, I will spew you forth from my mouth like vomit!"

Strong words from the Son of a forgiving Father—but then, so are words like,
"Not all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved, but those who do the will of the Father." (Matt. 7:21)

Lip service is not enough; the Lord judges the intentions of the heart: "Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts." (Isaiah 55:7)

Remember the commandments? "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." (Deu. 6:5) And to be even more explicit, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commandments, always." (Deu. 11:1)

Would that churches of all denominations would drill these words into the hearts and souls of their congregations! Can't they see how short the time is getting until our Lord's return? If they cannot, perhaps they might compare their evening news reports with the book of Revelation a little more closely!

We dare not be content with sermons designed to please the maximum number of people for the longest time. "Worrying about the masculine image of God in a feminist society," indeed! Rubbish!! What good is it if the congregation leaves the church with a warm regard for the minister and a totally erroneous impression of their individual responsibilities to their Lord?

What good is a denomination with magnificent structures and empty pews, or impressive treasury reports and dysfunctional social programmes? For that matter, what good is a church full of regularly-attending believers who care nothing for their neighbour in the next pew, let alone around the globe? "Love thy neighbour as thyself," remember? Christ said THAT was second in importance only to loving God!

Too often we are assured that "by faith ye are saved, by grace, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Too often we are told that we can not work our way into Heaven, or buy our way in either. These are indeed true, but we also need to be reminded that if we have two coats, we are to give one to our brother who is without—not as a means of buying our way into heaven, but as a matter of general principle. And our denomination should be practicing this principle as well as preaching it!

We drive fancy cars, watch colour television sets, dine in exclusive restaurants, wear high-fashion clothes—and neglect giving to the poor, encouraging the down- hearted, visiting the shut-ins.

Or we work our hearts out for the church, congratulating ourselves on our Christianity—but totally overlooking the Lord's injunction to serve in humility and compassionate love.

We tithe to our church, and think our time—24 hours a day, seven days a week—our own. We write a cheque once a year to charity (tax-deductible, of course!) and ignore news reports of impoverished nations and starving children.

We turn off the television in disgust when we hear of people living in the streets of nearby cities, or foodbanks in our own area needing assistance. "Not my problem!" we think—and we are WRONG! As long as we have anything to call our own, we have an obligation to share with those less fortunate—and that is the message our churches should be driving home every Sunday!!

Anything less is like passing by on the other side of the road;
anything less is like denying the Lord we claim to serve.

If we heed the words of our Lord, we know that in the end times we will be persecuted for His name's sake. We know that we will be able neither to buy nor sell. We know that "those who have never given suck" will be thankful for their childless state. We know that unless these days were cut short by the mercy of our God, nobody would survive. This, we know.

What we need from our churches is a reminder that as Christians we must love one another—not the back-stabbing love of the world, but the agape love of the early Christian church—supportive, caring, brotherly love that shares the bad times as well as the good.

What we need from our churches is a reminder that Satan dwells in empty beauty; and often lurks in what seems most appealing in the world around us.

What we need from our churches is the ammunition with which to fight Satan's ever-increasing attacks—because the harder we try to follow in Christ's footsteps, the fiercer the Devil's striving against us becomes.


What we need from our churches is the warning that giving in to every demand of our children is nurturing them in a love of the things of this world!

Certainly we can increase our insight through our own daily Bible study—the same family Bible study practiced by our forefathers. Certainly our own daily Bible time is an overwhelming priority that cannot be neglected. But just as certainly, we must have strong leadership in our churches.


Just as certainly we must have ministers who fight in the strength of the Holy Spirit to protect us from ourselves—for in our disposable society, we are our own worst enemies!

And just as certainly, we who are given an insight into these needs must stand up and be counted alongside our pastors, encouraging them in word and in prayer not to let us become like the five foolish virgins with no oil for our spiritual lamps.

God grant that we may not be found "neither hot nor cold" by our returning Lord, for to be spat from His mouth on that day would be eternal damnation indeed!