The Halfhearted Christian

In the book of the Revelation, chapter three, we find a somewhat disturbing passage written initially to the church at Laodicea: “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 spue thee out of my mouth. [the reason given:] 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” Rev. 3;14-17. The Lord has tasted, and as such says, I will not drink of the fruit of your vine. You would attempt to deceive me [and yourselves] into believing that it is the best wine; but the fruit from which it was pressed is corrupt and bitter. It came not from my Vineyard. You say you are rich? I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. You say you are increased with goods? Buy of me white raiment that thou mayest be clothed. You are blind. I will anoint your eyes with eyesalve, that you may see.

The fruit of their works is spued out. Are they to be cast out also? The Lord has rebuked and chastened. But He concludes: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” Rev. 3:18. Be no longer halfhearted and lukewarm! Come boldly [fervently] to the Throne of Grace! “we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God” II Cor. 5:20b. Abide in Me! I AM the True Vine and you are the branches. Bear unto the Husbandman the fruit which I alone am the producer! Then shall He drink and be refreshed and not spue it forth from His mouth!

To the current existing offspring of the Laodicean church we might offer a word study:
Half-hearted, Lukewarm, impassive, irresolute. Irresolute, wavering, faltering, uncertain, doubting, fearful, unstable, halfhearted. (Webster’s Thesaurus)

On wavering: “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:” Hebrews 10:24. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways” James 1:5-8.

If any man lacks wisdom? From the Old Testament book of Exodus: “And I shall speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him” Exodus 28:3. “And in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee” Exodus 31:6. Also read Exodus 35:10,25 and Exodus 36:1,2. In every wise hearted man the Lord put wisdom and understanding “even everyone whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.” So we see that every man whom the Lord filled with understanding and the spirit of wisdom also had his heart stirred within him to do the work of the Lord. He was not lukewarm; he did not work halfheartedly; he did not waver, doubt, fear; he was not double minded, unstable, faltering. He worked in faith, his heart stirred up within him.

Again to the halfhearted and the lukewarm: “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” Mark 12;28-31. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God halfheartedly? Lukewarmly? with half your soul, mind and strength? That is not full filling the commandment. The wine cup is half full? And it is half empty. It is to our shame if it be so in our hearts!

The works of our hands can be no greater than the work of our heart. Of what value, our works, if they stem from lukewarm, halfhearted Christians? Of what benefit, our works, our love, if they are not founded, coupled with faith? We ought to strive to do the will of God? Yes! But in order to accomplish this, we must willingly submit ourselves unto His will. There must be love united in faith; we must trust Him. Would we put ourselves into the hands of a surgeon if we doubted his abilities and skills to perform surgery? How shall the halfhearted and lukewarm, the fearful and doubting, the unstable and wavering - find peace and security in the Redeemer? How shall he believe himself to be truly saved and his sins bought with Precious Blood? Shall he believe the written words spoken by the Living Word to be eternally true and faithful?

Do we perform our ‘works’ with the ‘hope’ of somehow pleasing God? “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” Heb. 11:6. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts:” Heb. 11:4. By faith Enoch was translated. . .God translated him. . .he had this testimony, that he pleased God” Heb. 11:5. What great works did Enoch with his hands that he so greatly pleased God? “And Enoch walked with God” Gen. 5:22. Again, “And Enoch walked with God” Gen 5:24. Question. How is it that one will say he is walking with God and yet be lukewarm in heart; how can he halfheartedly be walking with God? Oh, the abundance of activities and programs in the local church! And it is church related, isn’t it? But is it walking with God? I remember fifty years ago, sitting in the ‘Amen corner’ of the church: men cried and prayed while sinners walked the aisle! Fervent prayer availed much! It was no place for the lukewarm or halfhearted Christian!

My dear friend, where would we be today if Jesus had been lukewarm; if He had halfheartedly obeyed the Father; if, in facing the cross, He had been fearful, uncertain, double minded, unstable?

“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 in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”