I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014Rev. 3:15<\/i><\/p>\n
3231<\/b> Mr. Luke Warm<\/b><\/p>\n
Recently I talked to a man I will call Mr. Luke Warm, for he is \u201cneither cold not hot.\u201d He says he is a Christian but seldom attends church. \u201cI am under a great deal of tension where I work,\u201d he explained, \u201cand often go fishing on weekends for relaxation. Church is all right, but a person can\u2019t do everything, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Luke Warm also had an uneasy conscience about his giving, for he continued, \u201cI put a dollar or two in the offering plate whenever I go, and I think that\u2019s all God can expect of me. If I gave a tenth of my income, it would amount to more than $2000. You just don\u2019t know how expensive it is for me to maintain my cabin at the lake and pay dues to keep my membership at the country club and the bowling league. Anyway, churches put too much emphasis on money. Sometimes I get so disgusted with this talk about sacrificing for Christ that I feel like quitting altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Our Daily Bread<\/i><\/p>\n
3232<\/b> The Devil\u2019s Strategy<\/b><\/p>\n
The Devil held a great anniversary, at which his emissaries were convened to report the results of their several missions. \u201cI let loose the wild beasts of the desert,\u201d said one, \u201con a caravan of Christians; and their bones are now bleaching on the sands.\u201d \u201cWhat of that?\u201d said the Devil, \u201ctheir souls were all saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor ten years, I tried to get a single Christian asleep,\u201d said a third; \u201cand I succeeded, and left him so.\u201d Then the Devil shouted, and the night stars of hell sang for joy. <\/p>\n
\u2014Martin Luther<\/p>\n
3233<\/b> Blindly Following Church<\/b><\/p>\n
An ignorant man was examined on the subject of his faith, as follows: \u201cWhat do you believe?\u201d\u2014\u201cI believe what the Church believes?\u201d\u2014\u201dWhat then, does the Church believe?\u201d\u2014\u201cThe Church believes what I believe.\u201d\u2014\u201dTell me, then, I pray you, what it is which you and the Church both believe.\u201d\u2014\u201dWhy, truly, sir, the Church and I both believe the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
3234<\/b> Embarrassed Baptists<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cIn the 24 years I\u2019ve lived in Louisiana,\u201d said Dr. J. D. Grey, \u201cwe\u2019ve had Baptists in the governorship for 16 years. They\u2019ve been the sorriest years that our state law enforcement has ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans was addressing some 2,000 men attending the annual Louisiana Baptist Brotherhood Convention. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not mad,\u201d added Grey, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, \u201cI\u2019m embarrassed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grey singled out Jimmie H. Davis, ballad-singing governor of Louisiana, as \u201cthe shame of Louisiana Baptists\u201d for failing to act against \u201corganized and commercialized gambling and corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis is a Baptist and once taught school in a Baptist college in Shreveport. He has written a number of songs, such as \u201cYou Are My Sunshine,\u201d and has made recordings of Gospel songs. <\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
3235<\/b> Young Gandhi With Christian Family<\/b><\/p>\n
While attending a university in London, Mahatma Gandhi became almost convinced that the Christian religion was the one true, supernatural religion in the world. Upon graduation, and still seeking evidence that would make him a committed Christian, young Gandhi accepted employment in East Africa and for seven months lived in the home of a family who were members of an evangelical Christian church. As soon as he discovered that fact he decided that here would be the place to find the evidence he sought. <\/p>\n
But as the months passed and he saw the casualness of their attitude toward the cause of God, heard them complain when they were called upon to make sacrifice for the kingdom of God and sensed their general religious apathy, Gandhi\u2019s interest turned to disappointment. He said in his heart, \u201cNo, it is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. A good religion, but just one more of the many religions in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Evangelical Illustration<\/i><\/p>\n
3236<\/b> Faithful To The End<\/b><\/p>\n
There is a church which sends in its annual statistical statement, year after year, as follows:<\/p>\n
Number of members added by baptism 0<\/p>\n
Number of members added by letter 0<\/p>\n
Number of members dismissed by letter 5<\/p>\n
Number of members who have died 3<\/p>\n
Amount raised for home missions 0<\/p>\n
Amount raised for foreign missions 0<\/p>\n
Pray for us, brethren, that we continue faithful unto the end. <\/p>\n
\u2014Current Anecdotes<\/p>\n
3237<\/b> The Frozen Ship<\/b><\/p>\n
We read of a vessel discovered a century ago, among the icebergs of the Arctic ocean, with the captain frozen as he was making his last entry in the logbook. The crew were discovered, some in their hammocks and some in the cabin, all frozen to death. The last date in the logbook showed that for thirteen years that vessel had been moving among the icebergs, \u201ca drifting sepulchre, manned by a frozen crew.\u201d Are there not churches in a like condition? <\/p>\n
\u2014Prosser<\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Backsliding ; Leisure ; Pleasure ; Sunday ; Worldliness ; Matt. 24:12; Rev. 2:4; 3:16.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. \u2014Rev. 3:15 3231 Mr. Luke Warm Recently I talked to a man I will call Mr. Luke Warm, for he is \u201cneither cold not hot.\u201d He says he is a Christian but seldom attends church. \u201cI am … Continue reading “LUKEWARMNESS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}