What is the Reason for Your Visit Today

What is the Reason for Your Visit Today?

Scripture: Rev. 3:18

¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Introduction: A man walks into a Doctors office, sits down and waits for his examination. First a nurse comes along and takes his blood-pressure, vitals and asks a few questions. Next, the doctor comes in and asks the $20,000 question, “What is the reason for your visit today?”

Again the man proceeds to tell about his aches and pains and because of certain symptoms the doctor runs a battery of tests and finds out the man has a deadly but curable disease. All the man needs to do is undergo a simple surgery. Doctor explains to the man that he has does many of these surgeries every week and there is nothing to worry about. It is as simple as clipping your toenails.

The man gets up, thanks the Doctor for running all of his tests, refuses the treatment, then pay’s his bill and leaves.

Question: what is wrong with this story?

How many of us would go through all this trouble of finding out what is wrong and then refuse treatment?

I would like to ask the $20,000 question, “What is the reason for your visit today?” Why are you here?

I. Why Am I here Today?

A. Why do you come here for church?

We may have many reasons let’s list a few.

Worship,

Tradition, this is where mom and dad came and if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me.

Serve, I teach or lead out in some capacity

I am here because this is where my friends are.

I am here to be spiritually fed.

I am here because I need healing in my life.

B. What is the purpose of the church?

I ask Christians what is the purpose for the church and most will agree that the Church is a hospital for the sick.

But when I ask Christians why are you here very seldom to we say I am sick and need healing.

Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matt. 9:12 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. The effect of Jesus’ rebuke is that the leadership, the Scribes and Pharisees, itself is exposed as being sick, even if they do not realize it. Jesus’ mission is successful when a sinner comes to the physician seeking to be cured. To come to the doctor is to realize that one has a disease that someone else must treat. God in His mercy will treat those who turn to Him.

But what will it take for God’s people to see that they too, stand in need of healing? Faith.

II. Faith

A. I want you to look at faith in a way that you have never looked at it before. Faith goes beyond the realm of believing that God can do some miracle in my life or for someone else.

Hebrews 11:1-3

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith is being sure of what we hope, but God does not leave us totally blind. He always leaves a little evidence.

² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. When I read this verse I think of Abraham and how it took him years to come to a point in his life where he totally trusted God. No longer did God have to put him into situations where he had to make a choice to trust God.

In verse 3 Paul gives a little more descriptive example of faith.

³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

What can we not see? God! By no means has anyone, any human, ever looked upon God and lived.

B. I will even take it a little further and say we have not even sensed God with any of our senses. Ask the following questions…

Have you ever seen God? No

Have you ever felt God? No

Have you ever, audibly, heard God? No

Have you ever smelt God? No

Have you ever tasted God? No

C. So how do you know there is a God?

By, the evidence of things not seen.

What evidence do we have that God does exist?

Verse 3 explains, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

So how do you know there is a God? Look at His creation!

Explain to me how an ugly worm weaves itself into a cocoon and a month later it turns into this beautiful butterfly.

Explain to me how the human eye works?

Explain to me how the whole universe functions?

Now explain to me why we do some of the things we do whether good or bad? There are forces at work that we cannot see.

III. Carnal Nature

A. What are some other things that we cannot see?

Our Nature, we cannot see that the human race has a sinful or carnal nature other than we are not fifteen feet tall like our first parents.

Ellen White says that, Adam and Eve in Eden were noble in stature, and perfect in symmetry and beauty.

When it comes to the carnal nature there isn’t a tattoo on my forehead that says I am sinful.

By body doesn’t omit an odor that tells others around me that I am fallen. (Well perhaps my wife might argue that one after I eat garlic)

So, how do we know that we have a fallen nature? By the things we do. By faith you can look your responses to the situations that God puts you in.

Example: You’re driving down Hwy 44, approaching St. Louis, and some crazy driver cuts you off and your fallen nature, Paul calls it carnal nature, kicks in and you begin to wave your fist at the crazy driver.

What is your Hwy 44? What brings out the worst in you? What triggers your carnal nature? Most importantly what do you learn from it?

Romans 7:14-20; Romans 8:5-8

B. What do you learn from it? Folks that is the evidence that we have a fallen nature. This is the evidence that we need to be fixed.

Faith is, believing that God can fix us and recognizing that we need to be fixed.

The question is what are you going to do about it?

We need to be aware that if we don’t learn from these most uncomfortable situations the first time God will continue to allow you to face them over and over again until you learn to trust and surrender your will.

C. Do you know what the problem with the Laodicean church is?

They don’t recognize that they have a problem.

It is like the Alcoholic or drug addict that can’t recognize that they have an addiction.

Lets get a little personal, it’s about those of us who eat too much and cant see that were killing ourselves.

It is about the father or mother who is constantly yelling at their kids.

It is about the husband and wife who are constantly at each other.

Or worse yet the passive aggressive who try’s to get their way by not saying anything.

Or the one who is indifferent and wont take a stand.

Or the one who goes around gossiping to everyone except the one there angry with.

This is the carnal nature, these are the things that need to be fixed. What brings out your carnal nature? What are you learning from it?

Rev. 3:15-17 Jesus is talking to the Laodicean church and he say’s…

¹⁵ “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked

These people are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

They are blind they can’t see that they have a problem.

They can’t see that they are spiritually bankrupt, they are poor.

They can’t see that they are naked, God can see their nakedness.

They can’t see that they are wretched.

They can’t see that they are miserable, no true peace.

Most interestingly the scripture say’s there is nothing more nauseating to God than a group of people, who call themselves Christians that are not willing to look at themselves. God say’s I will vomit you out of My mouth.

IV. What Can I do About it?

A. What can I do about it?

Revelation 3:18

It’s time to go shopping. Jesus say’s, come buy from me and put it on my account. That’s right it’s free!

First on our shopping list is a little refined Gold.

The gold refined in the fire is the Father character that He would like us to have.

When gold is refined it is melted down, that right it goes through the fire, and as the impurities rise to the top the goldsmith scrapes them off. Our heavenly Father does the same thing to us. When we go through the fires of life, trials and tribulations, the impurities begin to come out, and they come out in all different forms.

They come out in the form of anger.

They come out in the form of indifference.

They come out in the form of passive aggressive behavior.

They come out in the form of gossip.

They come out in the form of reclusiveness.

They come out in all different forms.

The question is, do we recognize them and allow God to remove them?

When we are traveling down the road and some one cut us off, and we raise our fist to the crazy driver do we recognize that we are not right.

When some lady is raped and murdered and we are totally indifferent do we recognize that we are not right.

When we get into the faces of our spouses or kids and scream at them do we recognize that we are not right.

When we disagree with someone do we passively withdraw our support to aggressively shout that we will get our way, do we recognize that we are not right?

Jesus say’s come buy from me Gold refined in the fire.

B. Second on our shopping list is a new wardrobe.

There is only one garment you need in your new wardrobe and that is a new white robe. It is the robe of righteousness, it is Christ’s robe.

That the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. Church one day our nakedness will be exposed. There is nothing that we can hide from God.

In Frank Phillips book “His Robe or Mine” he makes a statement about our problem. He say’s, “The root of the problem was that every single member of the bride’s party (the church) who has ever claimed to believe and accept the Groom has received a wedding garment. The question was not where to purchase one or how to make one, for when they accepted the invitation to become a member of the bride’s party the garment was received as a gift. The problem was wearing it!’

Do you know how to wear it?

C. Third is a little eye salve. How often, before we come to church, do we ask the Holy Spirit to fill this prescription? When we wake up in the morning do we ask God for a little eye salve, that we might see those impurities? The only way that you can see the impurities come out is if your eyes have been anointed by the Holy Spirit.

D. We are living in the Laodicean age and God requires three simple things to over come and to be worthy to sit with Jesus on His throne.

1. The Fathers Character – Gold refined in the fire for wealth.

2. The Sons Righteousness – White garment or robe to cover your nakedness.

3. The Holy Spirits Anointing- Eye Salve to see.

Conclusion: What is the reason for your visit today?

What will be the reason that you come back again next week?

You have come to the hospital for the spiritually sick. Only the sick need the Physician.

Are you willing to look at your carnal nature and buy from God the necessary things for healing that you need?

When you are faced with a situation that is not good what do you learn about your character? What kind of impurities are coming out?

God will continually put you back into those situations until you are wiling to see what God would have you to see.

What prescription do you need today that the Great Physician can’t fill?

Are you willing to take your medicine?

Do you want the Lord to have His own way?

Hymn: #306 Draw Me Nearer

Hymn: #567 Have Thine Own Way, Lord