Welcome to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.
Each week we bring you a different message
from some of history's greatest speakers in the
Christian faith.
And powerful sermons from modern preachers too.
This week we have Francis Chan with his
message, Lukewarm and Loving It.
You know, sometimes we'll look at another place
and we'll go, ah, it's weird that they
live that way.
No, it's weird that we live this way.
We're the weird ones.
You know, you guys, some of you could
probably go, oh, it's weird, our pastor's Chinese.
No, it's weird that you're not.
You know, sometimes it's like we get into
this world where we just think...
I mean, you guys are.
You know, we get into this world where
we just think, gosh, you know, the way
they live is so strange.
No, the way we live is so strange.
I mean, isn't that crazy that if there
were a hundred people in the room and
you've got your computer and your internet connection,
you know, they would just look at you
like, whoa, you're one of the three people
that has all of that?
Two dollars a day over half of the
world?
Here's two dollars.
Two dollars.
I want to show you something.
Look at you.
Did you see that?
They just kind of go, I don't want
that one dollar bill to touch me.
They just throw it back.
There's probably a couple more on the ground
from the last two services.
No one's reaching for it.
You know, I guarantee you no one's going
to leave here today and call their friends
and go, no way, Francis threw out two
dollars.
But do you understand that the majority, the
majority of the world would look at what
I just did and think that is crazy.
Most people would go, I can't believe he
just did that.
And no one even reached for it.
Fifty-three out of a hundred live on
that per day.
Now maybe if I threw out two $100
bills, maybe someone might have reached out a
hand because that's more like a day's wage
for us, right?
You know, $200 a day, you know, you
make about four grand a month.
That's about a day's wage.
Now isn't that weird?
I mean, how does that hit you to
think that you make 100 times, 100, 100
times the amount of what the average person
on this planet makes.
That over half of the people, you make
100 times what they make if you make
four grand a month.
I don't know if that's weird or it's
weirder that you don't think you're rich.
You know how everyone else in the world
would look at this, they would just go,
no way.
Do you know how strange it is to
the rest of the world?
Imagine if you're one of those 53 out
of the 100 and you look at some
people that are making 100 times what you
make and you hear them complain about money.
You guys, have you ever stopped to think
how the rest of the world looks at
us?
We are so weird.
We are so filthy, filthy, filthy rich.
And yet most of you would say that
you're not.
And I'm hoping to change that today.
I'm hoping you can walk out of this
room like I do and go, man, I
am just loaded.
I am just absolutely rich beyond imagination.
You know, because that's the way the rest
of the world looks at me.
And we've got to accept it.
We're rich.
That's my point.
You don't like to think of yourself as
rich, but you are so rich.
And yet some of you would call yourself
broke and the rest of the world would
just look at you and go, man, what
an idiot.
You're stressed out about money.
You're stressed out about 30 years from now.
The point is you're rich.
I'm rich.
And that puts us at a very serious
disadvantage spiritually.
What the Bible says, what Jesus says is
you're rich, and that's a huge disadvantage for
you.
Jesus says it is so hard for the
rich to enter the kingdom of God.
See, we thought riches were this great advantage.
Oh, it's so cool because look at all
I have.
All those poor people over there.
And Jesus goes, ooh, you're at such a
disadvantage because you're rich.
It is so hard for the rich to
enter the kingdom of heaven.
You know how hard it is?
You know, people have said, you know, Francis,
you're always talking about the poor over there
and caring for them.
Don't you care about the people that are
spiritually poor?
And I go, yeah, that's why I'm in
Simi Valley.
Not only we're the richest people in the
world, but you talk about security.
Let's live in the safest city in the
world, too.
Who do you think on this planet, I
think the toughest people to reach are right
here in this room.
The richest, safest, secure people on this planet.
Jesus says in Luke chapter 18 where he
says it's hard.
You guys, we in this room, we're at
a serious disadvantage.
Luke chapter 18, he talks to a person
who has wealth.
He talks to one of us.
Luke 18 verse 18, a certain ruler asked
him, good teacher, what must I do to
inherit eternal life?
Okay, so there's this rich man who wanted
to go to heaven, right?
That's us.
That's why you're in this room, right?
You're a rich person that wants to go
to heaven.
That's what we have in this room.
That's what we have in the satellite room.
The satellite room, we have rich people who
want to go to heaven and they're always
late for church.
I'm kidding you guys.
I know some of you guys go in
there to make room here and thank you
for that.
The rest of you, you're just late.
Luke 18, here's a rich young ruler, comes
to God and comes to Jesus.
Good teacher, what must I do to inherit
eternal life?
Verse 19, why do you call me good,
Jesus answered.
No one's good except God alone.
You know the commandments.
Don't commit adultery.
Don't murder.
Don't steal.
Don't give false testimony.
Honor your father and mother.
Verse 21, all these I've kept since I
was a boy.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him,
You still lack one thing.
Sell everything you have and give to the
poor and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come follow me.
When he heard this, he became very sad
because he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked at him and said, How hard
it is for the rich to enter the
kingdom of God.
Indeed, it's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the kingdom of
God.
Those who heard this ask, who then can
be saved?
And Jesus replied, What's impossible with man is
possible with God.
God tells this rich man, just sell everything
you have.
Give to the poor.
And the guy's like, And he just went
away sad.
He couldn't do it.
And Jesus goes, Oh, it's so hard.
It's so hard when you're rich to enter
the kingdom of heaven because you actually think
your riches are worth something.
And like, I don't know if I could
give them up because you just get so
clouded.
It's so hard.
He goes, It'd be easier for me to
cram a camel into the eye of a
needle than it is to get a rich
man into the kingdom of God.
Man, I've been studying this passage for 20
years.
Man, I've read this backwards.
I've heard so many sermons on it explaining
every piece of this or that.
After 20 years of studying, I'm just going,
You know what?
I know what this means now.
I finally figured out what Jesus was trying
to say when he says it's hard for
the rich to enter the kingdom of God.
You see, what Jesus was really trying to
say was that it's hard for the rich
to enter the kingdom of God.
I'm convinced of that.
You see, we sometimes, we dissect the passage
so much that we're just blinded to what
it's obviously saying.
You just look at the rich guy going,
Man, it's so hard.
Do you understand?
This is one of the hardest places in
the world to tell people about Jesus, for
them to get it because we're so rich
and so comfortable.
And he says, It's impossible.
He goes, You know what?
It's impossible.
It's impossible for the rich to get into
heaven.
That's how hard it is.
He goes, But with God, it is possible.
It's impossible from a human level, but it
can happen.
It can happen.
That's why I'm here.
I go, You know what?
It's not going to be easy.
It's not going to be probable.
But by the power of God, some of
you could go to heaven.
You see, because if you keep reading, you
know, then the disciples go, Well, we left
everything.
Verse 29.
Verse 28.
We left all we had to follow you.
And Jesus says, I tell you the truth.
No one who's left his home, wife, brother,
sisters, parents, children for the sake of the
kingdom will fail to receive many times as
much in this age and in the age
to come.
You keep reading.
Jesus predicts his death and he gives the
blind beggar his sight.
And then in chapter 19, what happens?
Look at the story.
Very important.
Chapter 19, verse 1.
Jesus entered Jericho and he's passing through and
a man was there by the name of
Zacchaeus.
He was a chief tax collector and was
wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was.
Being a short man, he couldn't because of
the crowd.
So he ran ahead, climbed up a sycamore
fig tree to see him since Jesus was
coming that way.
Remember the story?
And then when Jesus reached his spot, he
looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come
down immediately.
I must stay at your house today.
So he came down at once, welcomed him
gladly.
And all the people saw this and began
to mutter, he's gone to be the guest
of a sinner.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the
Lord, Look Lord, here and now, I give
half of my possessions to the poor.
And if I've cheated anybody out of anything,
I will pay back four times the amount.
Jesus said to him, Today, salvation has come
to this house.
So here's a wealthy man and what happened
that day?
Salvation.
What happened that day?
The impossible.
A rich man jumped out of a tree
and said, Here, take my money.
Here, half goes to the poor and the
rest of it, who did I rip off?
Here, four times, whatever I ripped you off.
I don't care about money anymore.
Jesus just invited me in.
Jesus wants to dine with me.
Look Lord, you know what?
I don't care because I found this treasure
now so all my other stuff, it doesn't
matter.
I give it all away and Jesus says,
Okay, he got it.
See, I told you, the rich can enter
the kingdom of heaven.
It's near impossible, but with God, all things
are possible.
And it happened.
Salvation has come to this house.
You see, the kingdom of heaven is not
like the rich young ruler who said, Man,
I got my wealth.
He's telling me to give it to the
poor.
I don't know, man.
He went away sad.
The kingdom of heaven is about a little
man who jumps out of a tree and
goes, Man, I don't care about my stuff.
What is the kingdom of heaven like?
The kingdom of heaven is like a man
who finds a treasure in a field, right?
And he sees this treasure.
It's so great that he covers it back
up and he goes, Man, let me just
get rid of everything else I have because
I want that field so badly.
He doesn't have to sit there and think
about it and go, Man, I don't know
if it's worth it.
It says, With great joy, you found, you
get it, you see that the treasure is
that great that, oh, I don't even have
to think.
This isn't compared.
This isn't a, let me weigh it out,
what's more valuable.
With great joy, let me just sell everything
I have and get this field.
With great joy.
I don't, do you ever picture Zacchaeus slowly
climbing down the tree and going, Um, alright,
I guess I'll give some to the poor.
I feel kind of guilty about it anyways.
Or if I ripped you off, I'll pay
you back.
He's that.
You just picture this little Danny DeVito guy
going, Woo, you know, just jumping and here's
all my money, you know, here you go.
And anyone I ripped off, I don't care
because I've got God.
It's like this treasure that was so great.
See, but that's so rare.
You see, because money does weird things to
people.
It just does.
I've heard people say that many times.
Haven't you heard that?
Have you heard that statement?
Have you used that statement?
Man, money does weird things to people.
One statement I have yet to hear in
my lifetime.
Money has done weird things to me.
It's always someone else, huh?
You guys, money has done weird things to
us.
Money has done very weird things to us.
Accept it.
See, Jesus says the thing with money is
it gives you this this false sense of
security.
You start feeling safer the more you have
rather than finding your security in God.
The more you have, the less you're inclined
to believe that you're needy.
Jesus wrote these seven letters to the churches
in the book of Revelation.
He writes to these seven churches and one
of them was a pretty wealthy one.
And when I read the letter, I just
go, wow, that's America.
This is a letter to the church in
America.
It freaks me out how similar it is.
A lot of you guys know exactly what
I'm talking about.
The church in Laodicea in Revelation chapter 3,
verse 14.
It's crazy when you read this.
You go, man, that's so us.
And that's scary because it's not a nice
letter.
He says in Revelation 3, verse 14, he
says, To the angel of the church in
Laodicea write, These are the words of the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler
of God's creation.
Verse 15, I know your deeds, that you're
neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either one or the
other.
So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor
cold, I'm about to spit you out of
my mouth.
Again, I'm not going to go deep into
the geography and tell you about the history
of this and that because I think sometimes
we miss the point of the passage by
getting too into the details.
And that's especially true in this passage.
It's simple.
Jesus says to this church, You're not hot.
You're not cold.
You're just kind of lukewarm, just kind of
casual about me.
I feel like just spitting you out of
my mouth.
You make me gag.
It's not like a hot cup of coffee.
It's not like an iced mocha.
You're just like this lukewarm coffee.
I sip it by accident.
I just, oh, that's disgusting.
He goes, that's what I think of your
church because you're not fired up about me.
You're not on fire.
You're lukewarm.
And a lot of it is because they're
rich.
You see it in the next verse, verse
17.
He says, You say, I'm rich.
I've acquired wealth.
I don't need a thing.
Somebody goes, I don't need a crutch.
I'm doing fine.
He goes, But you don't realize that you're
wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.
I counsel you to buy from me gold
refined in the fire so you can become
rich, and white clothes to wear so you
can cover your shameful nakedness, and salve to
put on your eyes so you can see.
See, this church, they were kind of laid
back about God because they didn't feel like,
oh, I'm depending on God.
God, give me this day.
Give me my daily bread.
That's not us.
When's the last time you're like, oh, God,
give me something to eat today.
No, it's like, I don't really need God
for my food.
I don't really need God for my home.
I don't really need God to give me
money for the rest.
Because I've got my whole retirement set up.
And I've got money to leave for my
kids, so they don't even have to depend
on God.
None of us really need to depend on
Him for our daily necessities.
He goes, It creates this sense of security
that suddenly you feel like you're not a
needy person.
Because no one on their right mind would
look at you and say, wow, you're needy.
Those people in Simi Valley, they're so needy.
And God says, they don't get it.
They really are the needy ones.
They're actually the ones that in my eyes
are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked.
It's disgusting.
Because of their view of me.
Because they're not on fire.
We're on fire for God right now.
See, my concern is that some of you
in this room, many of you, I'm not
judging, I'm just saying that you would probably
say it about yourself, that you're lukewarm.
If I were to ask you, okay, are
you on fire for God right now, or
are you lukewarm?
I think a lot of you would say
you're lukewarm.
What concerns me more than the fact that
you're lukewarm is that some of you would
say, yeah, I am lukewarm.
And then you'll walk out the door and
you'll do nothing about it.
What concerns me the most is that some
of you are lukewarm.
You know you're lukewarm, but you want to
be lukewarm.
You've planned your life out this way.
You've got enough God in your life.
It's not like you don't want to be
on fire.
I mean, I look at the majority of
the American church, they don't want to be
on fire.
They want a little bit of God.
Of course they want God.
I want a little bit of God.
I mean, it's good.
It's good for my kids.
It's good to give them a little bit
of morals.
It's good to, you know, learn to give
a little bit here and there, serve a
little bit.
But I've got enough of God.
I don't have enough money.
I don't have enough stuff.
I don't have a big enough house.
I need more of that.
But I think I've got enough God in
my life right now.
And it's crazy.
Not only are you lukewarm, but that's the
goal.
You're lukewarm and you're loving it.
And you hate for anyone to challenge you
to be on fire for God.
It's the word content here.
It's the craziest thing.
Do you understand this passage?
What is lukewarm equal?
Spit out.
Well, what does spit out mean?
I mean, can you explain that?
I need to?
What do you want?
I mean, it's this idea of spit out.
And people have asked, well, does it necessarily
mean that if I'm lukewarm, that I'm going
to hell?
Because if you're spit out of His mouth,
can you be spit out of His mouth
and still be saved?
And I'm going, well, you read it.
Look at the words.
Okay, you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind.
Are these words that you normally use for
a believer?
I once was blind, but now I'm blind.
You know, no, no.
These are people who aren't saved.
See, because if you get it, you won't
be lukewarm.
And this isn't about work salvation.
It's not about, okay, if I work enough,
then I'm suddenly on fire.
No, I'm saying if you get it, the
kingdom of heaven is a person who goes,
whoa, you're kidding me.
Okay, here, here's everything.
I'm getting this treasure here.
It's not about a person going, I don't
know, that's pretty good.
That's pretty good too.
I don't know what I want.
There's God, there's the world, there's God, there's...
I don't know.
God says, oh, you make me want to
gag.
So you're looking at me, okay, the maker
of the world, and then you on this
little planet, you're looking at this little house
here, this little car and going, man, I
don't know if I can give that up
for retirement for a few years.
And you comparing me, the creator, the one
who made the whole world, who spoke it
into existence.
And you're going, ooh, I don't know if
I can give up this little thing on
this piece of dirt for Him.
He goes, that makes me sick.
You make me want to gag.
I just want to spit you out of
my mouth.
See, your riches have so blinded you that
you think this stuff is good.
You don't see it as dung.
It's a big pile of crap.
And you don't get it.
You think it's actually good.
It's all this great stuff.
You've been blinded by it.
He goes, and that just makes me sick.
God looks and He goes, man, you're comparing
me to this?
You're wondering if I'm valuable enough?
Man, the kingdom of heaven is a guy
that just goes, duh, are you kidding me?
Let me just sell everything.
It's about a guy that jumps out of
the tree and goes, forget it.
I can have God.
He goes, but these people that are lukewarm,
that's just repulsive.
That's just sick to me.
See, my concern is that people will see
themselves as lukewarm, because we do this in
church all the time.
Yeah, I'm lukewarm.
And then ten minutes later, you're going to
forget about it and move on in life.
And I just go, what else is there
to think about?
Okay, so you understand what lukewarm is?
So you're going to be spit out of
the mouth of God.
You just go, okay.
I go, man, you shouldn't do anything until
you figure out how to be on fire
for God.
You should be down on your face.
You shouldn't eat again until you come before
God and just fast and pray, God, get
me on fire.
I'm not on fire.
You've got to get me on fire for
you.
I want to be in love with you.
I've got to see how valuable you are
compared to all this other junk.
You know, get me here.
That should be all you care about.
Don't go to work tomorrow if you're lukewarm.
Man, sell your house.
Just move.
Do whatever it takes.
You can't end your life lukewarm.
Do you get that?
I mean, why are Jesus' words so strong?
He says in the next verse, verse 19,
why does He say it so harshly?
Verse 19, I mean, those whom I love,
I rebuke and discipline, so be earnest and
repent.
Why is God saying this?
Because I love you.
I don't want to spit you out of
my mouth.
Do you understand?
I love you, and that's why I'm speaking
so harshly and I'm rebuking you.
He goes, and I'll discipline you too.
I'll have things happen in your life that
get your attention because you're lukewarm.
And if you end this way, I'm just
going to spit you out of my mouth
because that's disgusting.
It's repulsive to me.
You make me gag when you question whether
I'm worthy of everything and you compare me
to your stuff and your false security, your
idols.
I was trying to think about this passage
this week and say, okay, how does this
relate?
Because I want everything to be about love
your neighbor as yourself.
How does this relate to that?
And Jesus says, I tell you this because
I love you.
And so I said, okay, what am I
supposed to say to Cornerstone Church?
What's the most loving thing I could say
to you this morning?
And I thought long and hard about this.
And it's not going to sound pretty, but
I believe it's the most loving thing I
could say to you this morning.
I have this haunting fear that many of
the people that attend Cornerstone Church, even if
you've been coming for years and grew up
in the church or whatever else, I have
this fear that some of you, possibly many,
many of you are going to hell.
It keeps me up at night.
I read the Bible and I go, man,
the kingdom of heaven is like a guy
that just sold out.
Is that what we have here?
Some of you are, I know you are.
But I have this other fear of people
that like being lukewarm and people that are
there.
Do you understand the reality of what I
said?
I'm talking about hell.
Have you heard that word so many times
that you just have grown numb to it?
Eternal punishment.
And it's like, what in the world am
I doing up here then?
And again, I sure hope you don't see
this as while Francis is up there judging
the congregation saying he's saved.
I'm not saying that.
I'm saying I'm willing to bet some of
you would leave this room and say it
about yourself that you are lukewarm, meaning you're
going to be spit out of the mouth
of God and cast into the fires of
hell.
That's all I'm saying is what you would
say about yourself.
And it blows me away that some of
you won't do anything.
You see, because to me, I just go,
whatever, God.
I've got to get this right.
Why do you think I left the church
in June?
You guys write these emails, oh, because you're
mad about this.
No, I told you why I left.
Because I wasn't sure about myself.
I don't even know if I'm a person
that really wants the will of God.
Sometimes I get caught, what do you think,
that suddenly I'm just oblivious to all the
riches and everything?
I get caught, I get sucked into Simi
Valley of this comfort, secure, happy little Disneyland
world we live in and I get attached
thinking this is my home, this is the
home.
And God just thinks, come on, that's not
your house.
I mean, I get sucked in by this
awesome little family and how cute my kids
are and how much I love them and
ooh, I couldn't bear to lose one.
You know, it's like, no, God.
And again, I had to go, God, am
I lukewarm?
Am I a man that even wants your
will?
I've got to be right about this.
Man, and I've said, God, anything, anything, because
I see the treasure now.
Just give me that.
Give me that.
If you have to take everything else away,
you know what, if you have to take
away all my stuff, it's just stuff.
If you need to take my family away,
it's just a family.
I'm talking about God.
I've got to have this.
And sometimes I get clouded by the riches
and the security that we have here.
And that's why, God, this is going to
be hard for you.
And I will do anything.
I will leave.
That's what I'm hoping.
I just show I'm out of here.
If I can't pull it off here, I'm
leaving.
Maybe I'm just not strong enough.
I'd love to think that I could be
that man here that lives in this crazy,
rich, safe environment and still could care less
about all that security and have my eyes
focused on God.
That's what I want to be.
I'd love to be that example here.
But if I can't, then I'm out of
here.
I'll sell everything and just live amongst the
poor.
Maybe I'm just not strong enough to really
have my eyes on God here.
But I've got to keep fixed on Him.
I've got to be on fire.
I'll do whatever.
I'll jump ship.
I am not going down with the ship.
You're saying, wow, you're a terrible captain.
I'm sorry.
As much as I love you, I love
myself far more.
And I'm talking about my own salvation here.
And again, it's not about works.
It's not about earning it.
It's just, you know, you ever like when
someone's struggling, someone becomes a new believer, and
let's say their struggle is drinking.
And you just say, you know what, maybe
you should just get out of the bar
for a little while.
Because maybe you're just not quite strong enough
to handle it there.
You know, and just not wise.
You know, I've got a sickness.
And it's called comfort, security, riches.
And maybe I'm just not strong enough to
handle it here in the safest city in
America.
You know, and so maybe it's just not
wise for me to be there.
And so I've got to watch myself and
go, man, if I can't do it, because
this is all that matters.
It's everything.
I hope you're that serious about this.
Jesus says in verse 20, next verse, He
says, Here I am.
I'm standing at the door, and I'm knocking.
If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I'll come in and eat with him
and he with Me.
And then verse 21, He says, To him
who overcomes, I'll give the right to sit
with Me on My throne just as I
overcame and sat down with My Father on
His throne.
He who has an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.
See, Jesus says, Look, I'm knocking on the
door.
He goes, I'm saying this because I love
you and I don't want to spit you
out of My mouth.
I'm knocking.
I'm going, Please let me in.
Let me in.
I'm greater.
These are greater riches.
Just look at the other stuff as dung.
It's garbage compared to Me.
Trust Me, it's so much better here.
He goes, Not only if you overcome, and
by overcome, overcome this lukewarm.
You see, the Bible says that there's this
huge road that leads to destruction.
There's this huge lukewarm road that leads to
destruction.
It's broad.
Everyone's going there.
He goes, But there's a few people.
He goes, There's also this narrow road and
few people will find it.
Very few that are rich.
Very few from Simi Valley.
Very few, but they'll find it.
And they're going to go against the flow.
They're going to find it.
And if you're one of those that overcomes,
you know, this flow that's going this direction,
you're going, No.
I see the treasure.
I see Jesus.
I'm going to walk to that.
I don't care if everyone's going, I got
the treasure in mind.
I'm going toward that.
He goes, If you overcome, He goes, I'll
give you the right to sit on my
throne with me.
And you know what's awesome about that?
It's in the next verse, in chapter 4.
He says, After this, I looked up and
I saw this door standing open in heaven.
What does he see there?
He sees the throne of God.
We've talked about chapter 4 before.
Remember, John gets to go up there and
see the throne.
Do you understand the picture?
He goes, I see the throne and there's
this being sitting on it.
He's glowing like diamonds and rubies.
It's a person.
It's God.
He's glowing like diamonds and rubies.
He's got lightning coming from his throne.
He's got these pillars of fire.
There's this roaring thunder coming from this throne.
There's this big sea of glass around the
throne.
There's these 24 men dressed in robes and
they're just bowing down, dropping their crowns before
the throne.
There's these four living creatures with eyes all
over their bodies and six wings looking at
the throne screaming, Holy, Holy, Holy.
He says, There's a hundred million angels all
bowing down and worshipping at the throne.
And Jesus says, If you overcome, you can
sit on that throne with me.
You can be on that throne if you
overcome.
If you can see that throne and go,
Oh, wow!
That or this little world down here.
That's why God says, you're going to look
at all of that and then just go,
I don't know if that makes me sick.
That just makes me sick.
It makes me want to spit you out
of my mouth.
And I will.
Because you're trying to find this pleasure outside
of me.
You think these things compare to me.
That's just repulsive.
I've shown you the throne.
I'm saying you can sit there if you
overcome.
You can have me.
You can dine with me.
You can be with me.
You can have true riches.
I'll clothe you in white robes.
You'll have it all.
And the Bible says, If you get it,
you'll say, Oh, forget all this.
I don't even care.
I was reading Time Magazine last week.
Does God want you to be rich?
Remember that?
And if you saw Time Magazine, it's about
all these televangelists going, Oh, God wants you
to be rich.
Oh, you know, all the riches are good.
You know, you've got to strive for it.
You've got to say, Give them to me.
And it's going, You know what?
If you've got the throne, you've got God,
you won't care about the riches.
It's not about being poor or rich.
It's about, I don't care.
I don't even think about it.
If my riches are an obstacle to God,
that's all I care about.
Why do I want anything else?
What else do I desire on earth?
It's all about the throne.
It's all about heaven.
Are you an overcomer?
Is that you?
Have you overcome this world?
Here's what I want you to do.
Again, I don't want this to be me
manipulating anyone.
I want you to be alone with God
this morning.
I want to give you some time to
pray to God.
Because I am not accusing any of you.
I say I get scared about this, because
I don't know.
But if you go, Well, you know, just
because I serve in a lukewarm way, and
I give in a lukewarm way, and I
pray in a lukewarm way, doesn't mean I'm
lukewarm.
All right.
But you just come before God and say,
God, am I?
Am I on fire for you?
Do I really see how great it is
to know you and the riches you have
for me?
Or am I caught up in all this
junk?
I'm going to give you some time of
silence.
And here's some things I want you to
pray through.
I want you to ask God, first of
all, God, reveal to me the areas in
my life where I'm lukewarm.
Can you pray that to God and say,
God, show me where I'm lukewarm?
You could probably pray that, right?
How about the second thing?
Would you be willing to say, God, give
me strength in the areas where I'm weak
and I'm lukewarm?
Are you willing to pray that?
But here's the real question.
How about that third one?
Are you willing to say, God, do whatever
it takes to get me on fire for
you?
Whatever.
That's a scary prayer.
God, if you have to take everything I
own away from me, if that's holding me
back, God, please take it away.
Please, please, please, please, because I want you
so badly.
God, if it's loved ones, please, please, please,
just, I gotta be on fire for you.
You willing to pray that?
Do you see the treasure as that great?
I hope so.
Just give you some time.
Just bow your head before God and just
start asking God for those things.
You've been listening to the From the Pulpit
in Classic Sermon series.
This week you heard Francis Chan with his
message, Lukewarm and Loving It.
Tune in next week to hear Alden Gannett
talk about answered prayer on From the Pulpit
in Classic Sermons.