Having a Meal with Christ — Revelation 3

0:14 Morning. Nice to see everybody. Family Bible hour. So when you read the bible, study. There are fundamental issues that you have to deal with.

0:45 Number one of which is believing that what is your reading is what god is saying. And notice I use the present tense is what he's saying. Knowing that there's so many things he could have written down but specific things are written down for us to know, to believe in, to embrace that will affect the way we live obviously. So it's with that that we we have a family bible. I'm a firm believer that family bible hours are helpful, but what's even more helpful is when you can sit casually in a group in a small circle and talk about the content of a family hour.

1:31 I don't know if you do that or not, other than perhaps with your own family on the way home. I know I try to review the family baba hour with my wife and my daughter when we're in the car on the way home before I forget it. Try to. But other than that, I think it's wise to sit down and say, hey, this is what we have for Family Buy Bar. Let's talk about it.

1:58 I think that's healthy. You might call that a Sunday school, you might not. It doesn't really matter what you call it. The key is do you do it? So that outside of just like sitting here listening to somebody present to you truths portions of scripture that you probably have read before and therefore are familiar with and have your own personal idea what it's saying, what it means, how to how to apply it.

2:27 There's an actual opportunity to talk about it. In my opinion, is missing in the assemblies. Where I go, people don't talk about what they heard in the message enough. Just don't. Maybe they're afraid to.

3:01 Maybe people are afraid that, well, what if they challenge what they heard? Great. It'd be great if it was. I think it would be good to say, you know, not that it would be good to interrupt while I'm speaking, but if if you feel so led and you wanna draw that sword, you know, I prefer to do it afterwards. Let's commit our time to the Lord.

3:28 Father, we thank you for your son. We're gathered together to him, gathered in his name, gathered with no other head but him. And members of his body, come surrendering ourselves, our minds, our thoughts for the next few minutes into your hands that you might use your spirit and your word to penetrate into our souls, Lord, the bread of life. And nourish us, convict us, challenge us, correct us. Whatever you see fit to do with us today, we take these few minutes committed into your hands and ask that our time would be well spent.

4:05 For without you, lord Jesus, we can do nothing. Thus, we commit ourselves to you in your precious name. Amen. So, I'm sure you have a favorite passage in the Bible. Favorite verse?

4:28 I know there's too many. I can't have them all. Yeah. I get that. I have a few that I call my favorite at different times depending on audience.

4:37 Nevertheless. How many of you had... No, let me ask it this way. I want you to think back to your most recent, get the word recent, memorable, something that you remember, meal. Your most recent memorable meal.

5:00 Alright. And I'm gonna ask you a, b, or c question. A, was it memorable? You've already classified it as memorable. I'm not making it memorable.

5:12 You've classified it as memorable. Was it memorable? A, because of the food. Wow, great steak. Yeah.

5:22 Could be. That's why it's memorable. Was it memorable because where you had this meal? Great restaurant, backyard, Camp Lai Loli. Do you guys do teen week this year?

5:36 Yes, sir. We do. The cook over there making it for the teens. Or who you're eating with. I know we got some hot items in the room.

5:47 Know, hot by meaning that recently the romance has butted up and now it's time to, you know, take the next step. That's always good to eat with your loved one. I was out with a brother the other day having breakfast and in the middle of conversation as the room started to dwindle because people were leaving and we were there for breakfast and we could stay all day, but other people had to go to work, unfortunately. And he's in the middle just stopped and said, you see that couple over there? And I'm like, no.

6:20 I'm paying attention to what you're saying. And he said, well, no. I want you to watch them. Why? They're not talking.

6:29 I said, well, they must be married. Married people go out to eat. Only the two, they usually don't talk much. It's about the food, it's not about the company. But I'm not saying that would be true for everybody.

6:42 Alright? And I would say this also about going out to eat. Usually, you only go to where you know exactly what you want based on what you've been there before and what you like and order the same thing. Not very many adventures, but that's alright. You got the a b and c?

6:58 How many a's? It was about the food. Thank you. Being honest. Two three okay it was about the food.

7:08 Bees, how many bees? About the location. Also location. Okay. C about who you're with.

7:18 Forgive me if I don't believe that. I'll take your word for it. I'm not going to challenge you on that point, really. It's not an important point. I turn with me if you would to the third chapter of the Revelation.

7:39 The third chapter of the Revelation. For me, in this age, One of the greatest promises of the lord Jesus Christ. Why do I say that? Because I see the conditions in America somewhat comparable to the church at Laodicea. Just how I see it.

8:20 Right? Just how I see it. I don't wanna deal with the lukewarm issue and I don't know how you see this chapter with regards to church age, pre church, gospel, of those issues are my point today. I'm happy to have that discussion with anybody. I certainly have a point, but I'm not about that today.

8:52 I'm about verse 17. You say, I'm rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need anything. You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Keep in mind this is the seventh in a series of letters to churches, gatherings of Christians, a town called Laodicea, alright, and a three town nucleus around Colossae and Heraopolis on a river, a 120 miles west, east, sorry, east of Ephesus.

9:48 And what is now called Turkey. There are Christians gathered there. And they get a letter from John who's on an island off the coast, a little bit south of Ephesus called Patmos and the spirit of god told him, write these letters and send them to these churches. So you're at the church of Not that you are. I didn't mean to make that quick application.

10:15 I'm just saying, let's pretend we're Laodicea church Christians, and we're there. And suddenly, some... I got a new letter from John. Alright, read it. That's what you're reading?

10:29 You say you're rich. You're not rich. You say you're rich. I have wealth. You're not wealthy.

10:38 I don't need anything. You need a lot. What do you mean you... John, you don't even know us that well. You don't know us that well.

10:50 I mean, every imaginable reason you might have to say this cannot be true about me, about us, even if it's true about us, in The Us, it's not me. The ability we have to separate ourselves from truth that's pinpointed to us. Either Jesus Christ wrote this for all of us, or he didn't. Or he didn't. And I'm a believer that it's in the book because it's for me.

11:20 I have the ability to deceive myself. To think I'm one way as a Christian when I'm not. That's not the way the Lord sees me. My friends might see me as rich and wealthy and not needing a thing, but that's not how Jesus Christ sees me. Alright?

11:40 And we're talking about Jesus Christ. We're not talking about some mystical cosmic power that floats around the constellations. We're talking about a physical body, Jesus Christ, who came physically, left physically, and coming back physically, and that's who is gathered spiritually with us as our head thus this morning, wherever we're gathered. Alright? That's who we're talking about.

12:04 We're not just talking about the Lord without a name. We're talking about Jesus Christ. Got nail holes? You'll recognize him when you see him, trust me. You might not always recognize his voice, but when you see him, you'll know him.

12:20 You need to get ready for that too because I think he's coming back soon. Of course, I thought that back when I was saved in '72. Anyway, so here's the condition of a group of Christians. Each Christian, probably the same condition. Therefore, one message to all of you.

12:38 He didn't say, John, I want you to write a message just to Doug and then write a message to Roger and then I want you to write a message to Todd. Bob's getting a different message. No, he didn't do that. You write to the church at Laodicea. And this is the message.

13:09 Those I love, I correct. And I discipline. I discipline. And we know that from Hebrews also. He wrote the same thing.

13:22 Endure hardship, endure discipline, as from the Lord, knowing that whom he loves he disciplines. If you don't get disciplined, if you're never corrected, you question your father. Don't you care enough to correct me? Yeah. Them who I love, I correct.

13:45 Verse 19 says. Now, here's the promise. Here, he says, look. This is Jesus Christ talking through John. Look, Jesus said.

13:59 I'm standing at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Can there be a better invitation? Now all of you said, see, my best meal recently was based on the person. Was the person Christ?

14:23 You see, at some point, we have to transition Christ's desire to eat with him was a spiritual meal. Was a time of spiritual communion based around breaking bread at a meal. Not this breaking of bread, not a table with carved initials in remembrance of me. That's the Lord's Supper. We're talking about real face to face fellowship with Jesus Christ.

14:52 Not just memorizing verses out of a book, shutting a devotional, putting a mark on a calendar that you did it again today. We're talking about an invitation to people that he said, you don't know what you're really like. If you just watch and open when you hear, I'll come in and we'll have a meal together. Now, based on verse 19, I could understand why nobody would. Honestly.

15:24 Oh, you're just going to come in and correct me. The whole meal's going be you talking to me and telling me what I'm wrong. And I'm going be stuffing food down my face because I'm a nervous wreck because what you want to talk to me about, I don't want to hear. You've seen, you've been out with meals with people like that. They don't want to talk.

15:41 What'd you say? That's just human nature. We have to somehow distract with the food. Avoid the conversation. Avoid the conversation.

15:58 I get that. I just admit that. Especially if he's already said, listen, you need to be corrected. Why would I sit down then and listen? Just take me to the woodshed.

16:11 Just take me out to the woodshed. Wamp on me. That's not Jesus Christ's plan. We're talking about Jesus Christ here. He he's better at shepherding than we know.

16:25 Let's have a meal together. He offers whoever. Whoever. Now I can't tell you when's the last time you enjoyed having a meal with Christ because now we're talking about a spiritual experience. We're not talking about a doctrine.

16:42 We're not talking theology. We're talking about an experience. When's the last time you sat down with Jesus Christ? Whether he said a word. I can understand the path of avoidance.

17:06 I prefer not to go to that meal. I really can. I'd rather schedule a quiet time that include the book of Leviticus. Let me read 16 chapters out of Leviticus rather than sit there and have to listen to him tell me what... Maybe tell me, maybe not.

17:23 He knows my frame. He knows my frame. He knows how to talk to me. My father didn't know how to talk to me. Don't forget what Hebrews goes on to say.

17:36 My father wasn't a Christian. Our natural fathers disciplined us according to their pleasure. Right? But he for our goodness. He for our goodness.

17:49 He knows how to have this conversation. We have to believe in verse 19, those I love. Not those I'm mad at. He has every reason to be mad at the church. Because they're phonies.

18:08 They disappointed him. He picked them up to drink of them, and it was lukewarm and so, ugh. But he's not mad. Jesus Christ isn't mad at you. You gotta believe that.

18:25 You failed him. He's not mad. You didn't meet his expectations. He's not mad. He's not angry with you.

18:35 He loves you. He loves you. And that concept is hard to get because in our interpersonal relationships, especially husband and wife, we get... I don't. We get ticked with each other, don't we?

18:53 We get put off. I remember walking in to somebody's house one time, and the husband said to me from across the room, I'm not talking to her, you know. And I'm looking in the kitchen, I see his wife, you said that loud enough, we're here. Yeah, we're not talking to each other. No, we're not.

19:14 Are you talking about each other but not to each other? Yeah, we're mad at each other. That's not Jesus Christ. That's not. Open.

19:27 If any man opens. If you're just willing to have this meal, he'll have it. Or you could be willing to have the meal and control the conversation. You start off with a list of, oh, before we start, I'll give thanks for the food and in the process, Lord, I want to just start confessing my sin. You can do that if you want.

19:47 You won't get to the end of the list, but you can do that if you want. That's not what he's looking for. This isn't a confessional booth. He's not inviting you into a little room to confess your sins. Let's have a meal together.

20:03 And you'll be nourished when it's over. You'll be nourished. That's one of the greatest promises and one of the most useful verses I have to deal with people who are struggling in their relationship with the one they call their best friend. When's the last time you ate together? And I will ask you all to see people who said my last memorable meal was with the person, based on the person, how well do you know that person?

20:53 You could enjoy them. Alright? I'll just mention some of them. We're not gonna look at them. Alright?

21:02 Levi, the call of Levi in the fifth chapter. Don't don't turn there. Don't waste your time. Levi takes him home and hosts a reception meal for him. Christ is accused of what?

21:18 Eating with sinners and publicans. You have in the tenth chapter, Mary and Martha. Mary at Christ's feet listening intently to what he's saying. Martha? Complaining.

21:37 Lord, don't you see how busy I am, how burdened I am with getting this meal ready for you? And me personally, I would have thought, well, yeah, if you want to eat something good, you've got to have somebody cook it. Jesus didn't entertain her complaining. But there was a meal. Nineteenth chapter.

22:00 Zacchaeus, you're looking for me? You climbed way up there so you could see me better? You didn't realize I was looking for you. Come on down. We're going to your house today.

22:11 And they had a meal. And the complaints, he eats with sinners. Fifteenth chapter, he eats with sinners. Yeah, look at all of us sinners. He eats with all of us.

22:23 Hallelujah. What a savior. I only want to look at three passages in Luke where Jesus ate with a pharisee. Why a Pharisee? A Pharisee remind me of the church at Laodicea.

22:36 Phariseeism. I know it all. I got it all. I need nothing. And I live separate from all those other pretenders.

22:46 Three times in Luke's gospel there's Christ referenced to eating with a pharisee. Let's look at them. First one, Luke seven. When, verse 36, one of the pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him. He went to the pharisee's house and reclined at the table.

23:08 And then a woman, of course, who had lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating, she came and she did all that. And I'm not after what the woman did, although it amazes me that sometimes women get it better than men. They just get it sometimes better than men when it comes to Christ. Now, I don't know why the women came. Although chronologically, chronologically, when you put all the gospels together, the accounts, when did this happen in comparison to this and you dovetail on all these historical details and you're reading, trying...

23:51 What day of the week was that? And here you come to this woman who comes to Christ when she's, he's been invited to eat at a home of a Pharisee. And she comes uninvited and she displays to Christ a wonderful sense of worship and adoration and love. Right? And I'm suggesting to you that historically, what she might have heard that brought her here was the other great promise of this generation.

24:24 Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. What an invitation. Come unto me. And here Matthew 11, that was where that verse is from where you have Jesus Christ inviting people to come. And here in Revelation three, have Jesus Christ saying, I'll do the coming.

24:48 You just open. I'll come. I'll come in if you just open. That Pharisee opened his house to Christ and took him in. And then this wonderful experience that Christ had at the display of this love and affection that she had for Christ, perhaps having heard him invite anybody who was burdened and heavy laden.

25:12 She came, knowing her sin, and fell at Jesus' feet. That's not my point. Those are good points. My point is what he said to the Pharisee. Verse 44.

25:30 He turned towards the woman but said to Simon, who is the Pharisee, you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet. Verse 45, you did not give me a kiss. Verse 46, you did not put oil on my head.

25:51 Now that could be one of the reasons why many people don't want to eat with Christ. He's gonna tell you what's missing. You're gonna be challenged what's missing. What's missing? Wouldn't it be wonderful if after the Lord's Supper, if during the Lord's Supper, first of all, we had a sense of him saying, I enjoyed that.

26:16 Thanks everybody for coming. But then he stood at the door and greeted every one of us on our way out and said, Well, it, hold it, hold I like the fact that you in a group sang this but your heart wasn't involved. Your mind hasn't been thinking about me. You've been thinking about, what is it, the Browns? Or the Indians?

26:37 Or the Cleveland team? Whatever you call. I mean, we have the ability to just not be engaged. And Jesus Christ has the ability to say, is there something missing, Simon? Now, can tell you why it's missing in Simon.

26:53 Because he had no sense of his sin, because he was a Pharisee. And when you have no sense of your sin, your value of forgiveness by God is little because you don't think you have a debt. You have no great joy that you've been forgiven because you don't think you need it because guess what? You're not as bad as that person. I'm a Pharisee.

27:17 Like Paul said, as touching the law, perfect. When you don't have a sense of forgiveness, you're gonna be lacking these things. But how about Simon saying, hold it, dude. I invited you here. I got that from Ray, by the way.

27:32 I heard Ray call. Brother Ray, you gotta just love that brother. He used for me once. He called me dude. Really?

27:42 Really? You called me dude? It's like calling a crocodile a lizard. You call me dude. Right?

27:48 Anyway, can you just see Simon saying to the Lord, I invited you into my house. You're telling me off? You're exposing my weakness? You're telling me what I'm lacking in? No, thank you.

28:00 Eat somewhere else. There's a restaurant down the road. Don't come into my house and tell me off. You want to have a meal or don't you? You see, I can understand why people don't want to eat with Christ.

28:16 They don't want Christ to say something's lacking here. But should in our heart of hearts we want Jesus Christ himself to tell us what's lacking before we get to see him face to face and he says, oh, by the way. Imagine the shock of those in Matthew seven? Lord, we did all this in your name. Out, depart from me.

28:39 I never knew you. You never knew us? How could you say you never know us? You're omniscient. You know everything.

28:44 No, I never had a meal with you. I never had a meal with you. We don't know each other. That's pretty serious shock. Let's go to the next one.

29:00 Luke chapter 11. And I and I understand very clearly I'm zooming over this stuff. Alright? I'm making a point about Pharisees. Just bear bear with me because I'm convinced that's what the Laodicean church was.

29:19 And equally so, I think American Christians are plagued with Phariseeism. We got all the rules without the person. Anyway, Luke 11 verse 37. When Jesus had finished speaking, a pharisee invited him to eat breakfast with him. So he went in and reclined at the table.

29:42 The Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not wash before meals. Let me just stop right there and acknowledge one truth. Washing before meals is not a commandment. What is it you say? Not in the Torah, which is the commandments.

30:05 Keep in mind that the Jews don't only believe that Moses wrote the Torah, they believe that Moses was also given the Mishnah, which is the oral rules, which he then had to give to 70 others, who then passed it down from generation to generation until somebody decided, let's write the Mishnah down and call it the Talmud. So they write the Talmud down. Right? When Jesus talks about traditions, that's what he's talking about. The Pharisees kept many traditions.

30:41 Mark tells us in his third chapter, washing pots, that's all in atonement. Written, but it came from the Mishnah oral. So how do you verify anything in the oral? You can't. You can't.

30:55 Nobody can. How do you know Moses didn't? God would have told us. God only wants to know these rules and not those? No, please believe me, brothers and sisters.

31:07 The Pentateuch contains the Torah and that's all there is. Those are the first five books. Nevertheless, you step back and you see that Christ is dealing with a Pharisee who's concerned that you didn't do what I expected you to do. Well, now that brings it in closer range for application to me. You know why?

31:28 Because Jesus Christ is constantly doing something I don't expect them to do. Did I expect COVID? No. No. I don't.

31:39 I don't expect COVID. I don't expect Jesus Christ one day in the year 2020, March 15, stand up and the whole world say everybody stay home. You're not allowed to meet anymore unless you defy the governor. I didn't expect that. Jesus Christ always does the unexpected.

32:00 Unpredictable sometimes. And when he does it challenges my faith, but not to the point where now I'm upset because you did something I didn't think you... No, you didn't do something I thought you should do. Oh, that fashions more into our prayer meeting, doesn't it? Because our prayer meeting becomes a list of things we want you to do that you haven't done yet and we're expecting you to do it.

32:21 It's exactly the way we're asking. We're articulating very clearly, this is what we need you to do. And you don't do it? Yeah. The disappointment.

32:36 Prayer meeting breeds disappointment in Christians. You wonder why they don't come? They don't get what they asked for. How many times did you go and not get what you asked for? Now, this eleventh chapter is full of the woes to the Pharisees.

32:55 Now look at verse 45. Because the scribes were there too, the experts in writing the law. And one of the experts in the law said to Jesus Christ, teacher, when you say these things, you insult us. You just wanna giggle? You insult us?

33:16 You invited Jesus Christ into your house and he's gonna insult you? If necessary. If necessary. Oh, hold it. That's contrary.

33:31 I'm into comfort food. Comfort food. I feel good when I'm done. Maybe. Maybe not.

33:43 Because you can be so positionally opposite of what Christ wants for you, it's gonna sound insulting. Now, don't go out and say Jesus Christ insults everybody. Doug, I heard Doug say that. Only if he has to. He needs to.

34:03 He needs to move us off our position that we hold to so dearly because we don't think you should be like that. We think you should be like this. We think this is what you should be doing. You're not doing what we think you should be doing. This is our country.

34:18 This is what you should be doing to help us. Real. You're talking to the king of kings now. He doesn't necessarily believe in presidents, does he? You do.

34:32 He doesn't. Well, you don't do what we think you should do. We're gonna... Now listen, you're superficial. He goes through all this insulting.

34:41 You're insulting us. Please stop. No. It's not gonna stop. It gets worse.

34:46 It gets worse. Because they need corrected. They had already rejected God's purposes for them as we see in an earlier chapter. And this problem with the Pharisees is ongoing. One more.

35:33 And Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, is it lawful to heal on a Sabbath day or not? And no response. No response. Challenged to the point where we're not going to answer. Verse six, they had nothing to say.

36:01 They had nothing to say. They were watching him intently, putting him on the spot, and they couldn't answer his questions. Now that, I don't know if that's a good place for you to be. I'm not inviting you to this place, but I would think and suggest to you that sometimes our positions are so contrary to the mind of Christ that when he asks us a direct question, is it lawful for me to heal on a Sabbath day or not? I don't wanna say because it's just...

36:28 I'm in disagreement. I don't wanna disagree so obviously and blatantly, but I disagree. And how many times, brothers and sisters, I have found myself just totally, and I admit it to you shamefully, in disagreement with what Jesus Christ is doing. I just agree, Lord. It's not what you should be doing.

36:50 And it's not my prayer that you do it that way. We just disagree. Reduce the silence. And silence isn't a bad thing. Don't forget what Zephaniah said.

37:01 When you come into God's presence, you keep silent. You go to listen rather than to talk, King Solomon said. Don't be quick with your words in God's presence. And then wonderful verse seven, and we'll close with this. And I don't even think that we started close to being on time, so there's no sense why I should ever worry about stopping on time.

37:25 When you start on time, I'll worry about stopping on time. Amen. That's the that's the privilege of a 100 miles of driving. Alright? Now you remember from verse one, all they were watching him.

37:40 He was being carefully watched. Now look at verse seven, when he noticed. When he noticed. You see, Jesus Christ's observation skills are better than yours, better than mine. So let me just lightly ask you, why are you sitting where you're sitting this morning?

38:05 Are they assigned seats? Are your names on the back? Some of you sit in the same seat every week. I'm not, and I just say I'm not poking at it at all, I'm just asking. He knows where you're sitting.

38:26 And he knows why. Now, that doesn't mean anything to you. Although, in my mind, I know that some people gravitate to the back for many reasons, besides being late. He knows. And he goes on to tell a parable about choosing the best seats at a wedding.

38:51 But the point is, where you sit is where you feel your importance is in relation to him. Now, don't mean in this room because he's obviously in the midst and he's not physically here. But if he was physically here, if Jesus Christ was physically here, first question, physically, I'm talking physically, how many of you would still be sitting? No, I think we'd fall down. I like to think we'd fall down.

39:23 And when he stood us back up on our feet and that might be half eternity, we could finally get up and say, wow, I really didn't think you were gonna... But here I am, and I'm on my own two feet. But the reality of it is, where do we position ourself in relation to him? How much we value him or how much he values us? I stand at the door right now at every Christian in this room.

40:11 That's too bad. Because he had a great meal. And you could be afraid of him. You don't want to have the conversation. You don't want him to tell you what you're like.

40:21 All that, you can do it. And if that be the case, please listen to these words. Come unto me, all ye that are burdened and heavy laden. I will give you rest. Okay?

40:40 That's Jesus Christ. That's our savior. Let's close. Father, we thank you for your son, for his desire for us, certainly not our desire for him. And nevertheless, what, Lord, you wrought in our hearts by a power of your spirit to make us your own.

40:57 By grace alone, Lord, no works of our own. We thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Dismiss us now, we pray, in the power of your might. Use us for your purposes. In your precious name, we pray.

41:14 Amen.