Hot Or Cold - Building Bomb

Revelation 3:15-16

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 

I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

After going to the ICHE Young Adult conference last Saturday, and hearing Pastor Kirk Smith with a short message, and Mr. Carl Kirby (rforh.com) with the majority of the conference, I came away with a new perspective on many things.

One of the key tips Pastor Smith said was:
"Learn to think critically,
without being critical."

In other words, learn how to test what people say, learn how to think. That's Biblical too. (Prv 14:15 "the simple [Greek: pĕthiy, is basically: naivete, or foolish] believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well to his going.")
Have you ever realized that the world by default typically teaches you what to think,
and not how to think?

A staggering statistic that Mr. Kerby shared was that about 50-88% of 18 year olds that have been raised in a Christian home and called themselves Christians, are walking away from the faith.

Fifty to eighty-eight percent.

What does that mean?

Did they just backslide?

Let's see what we find from the Word of God, when Jesus talks to the Laodicean church....

Revelation 3:15-16

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: 

I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Spue? Strong word huh?

I heard this passage in a message by Mark Cahill called "Lukewarm No More" (Recommendation)  in September of 2011, and God used this to change me life drastically.

Basically, that's the person who is living with one foot in the earthly world, and one foot in the church world, trying to have the BEST of both worlds. 

Well, I believe Mr. Ray Comfort describes a backslider very well:
"A backslider never slid forward in the first place."

If that statistic is true, then that's means the majority of the young generation that claim to be Christians are really not saved.

So really, if they were never saved in the first place, the question comes down to this:

What should Christians do?

Well continuing in the passage in Rev 3, verse 19.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Notice that Jesus commands the congregation to "repent."
We need to love people so much, that we actually "rebuke and chasten" them, even if it hurts them or us.

The Bible doesn't say to tell a person who has made a profession of faith: "Congratulations on going to heaven."

^{2 Corinthians 13:5}

⁵ Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; 

prove your own selves. 

Know ye not your own selves, 

how that Jesus Christ is in you, 

except ye be reprobates?

2 Peter 1:10

¹⁰ Wherefore the rather, brethren, 

give diligence to make your calling and election sure: 

for if ye do these things, 

ye shall never fall:

What are "these things" that Peter is talking about? 
They are found in the previous verses (5-7)
This really is colossal information.
This is what you do, so that you know you "SHALL NEVER fall"...

⁵ And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

⁶ And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

⁷ And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

Imagine 
What would you do if you were walking down the sidewalk of downtown Chicago, and then you saw a box in front of the Willis tower labeled: "Building Bomb: Caution, Do Not Touch, Extremely Dangerous, explodes a 1000 foot radius to smithereens. Exploding in: 10 minutes, 12 seconds" ?
YOu're the only one who seemed to notice, but then you go back to your normal daily life, because you think: "Well if it really was a Building Bomb, someone else would've stopped him. So it must not be an Building bomb.
Even if there was just a 1/1,000,000 chance that it was true, shouldn't you do your part to stop it?

How much more, if we see a person who could be possibly not walking with the Lord, should we love them enough to speak the truth in love?

If you thought there was a 1/1,000,000 chance that I could be headed for Hell, I know I'd appreciate it if you told me exactly what I'm doing so with God's help I could change it.

What does it look like to actually chasten someone? I believe it could be questions like:
"How is your walk with the Lord?"
"Do you think that [insert whatever] is pleasing to the Lord?"
"Why are you doing it?"

I thank God for all of you!

God bless you all with grace and peace!
Your brother in Christ,
Landon Thompson