Abstaining from being lukewarm
In the previous post, we explored God’s chosen fast—a spiritual fast where we abstain from false teachings about Christ and His plan and purpose. But you might ask, “What exactly do we abstain from?”
One significant fault prevalent among Christians is lukewarmness in our search for God. It is believing that we can please Christ with a lukewarm heart. Being lukewarm separates us from Him. As Christ sternly warned, “I will spew you out of My mouth.” Christ said that Christians in the last church age—that’s us—will be lukewarm, being neither hot nor cold.
The concept of being “lukewarm” in Revelation 3:15–16 is a metaphor used by Christ in His message to the church in Laodicea. He rebukes them for their spiritual complacency, saying they are neither “hot” (passionate, on fire for God) nor “cold” (completely rejecting God). Instead, they are indifferent, stagnant, and lacking zeal, which displeases Him to the point of threatening to “spit them out of His mouth” (Rev. 3:15-22).
Gold, White Raiment, Eye Salve
Christ goes on to give us the remedy for being in the dangerous state of lukewarmness. He counsels us to repent from lukewarmness by buying from Him three things: “Gold tried in the fire,” “white raiment,” and “eye salve.”
“Gold tried in the fire” is partaking of Christ’s sufferings. This is the trying of your faith, which purifies our belief in God (James 1:3). Lukewarm Christians do not want to suffer. But “beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (I Peter 4:12-13; I Peter 1:6-7; Job 23:10). Those who overcome will share in His “praise, honor, and glory at His appearing.” Suffering for Christ’s sake is fasting from lukewarmness. “If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.”
Furthermore, we are to seek “white raiment” to clothe our spiritual nakedness (Rev. 3:18; 19:8). And finally, we are to seek “eye salve” so that we have eyes to see the secret things.
[You will notice the brevity of the previous paragraph. Instead of explaining “white raiment” and “eye salve,” I have left them as your “homework.” From the Scriptures, explain what they mean, and for an “A” on the assignment, explain how they help us repent from lukewarmness. Share your study in the comment section.]
Spiritual fasting is abstaining from false doctrines
I saw a shop window this morning. It displayed different size eggs and bunny rabbits. They were made of pottery, plastic, and white fur. And I thought, Christ has nothing to do with these vestiges of fertility rites that pagans esteemed millennia ago. The person responsible for the display probably does not know the gravity of this practice. Then I thought, We have been fasting from the pagan holidays for decades. [For more, check out this excellent video: A Very PAGAN EASTER | FULL DOCUMENTARY].
I can hear Yahweh’s voice crying through Jeremiah’s lips: “Learn not the way of the heathen…for one cuts a tree out of the forest…They deck it with silver and gold…They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not…” While they fiddle with earthly ornaments, they forget that “He has made the earth by his power, and He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens by his discretion” (Jer. 10:1-12).
To become His manifested sons and daughters, to achieve this growth, we must repent of the faults learned in our early years. God knows our hearts; He sees the sincerity in our efforts to do what is right. He has reached out to us in deeply personal ways, enabling us to know Him as our Savior. We were often told that attending church, paying tithes, making donations, and reading the Bible would secure our acceptance by Him. Yet, despite these practices, our growth has been limited—nothing resembling the profound transformation experienced by the early apostles.
God desires more for us. He has ordained spiritual fasting to foster our growth. This involves rejecting false doctrines and allowing His Spirit of truth to guide us, revealing the areas in our lives that require repentance. He has already cleansed us from all sin, which is defined as breaking the Ten Commandments. However, He seeks to purify us further by purging the “old leaven”—the faults rooted in false beliefs. These faults hinder the Spirit’s flow, much like clogged sap prevents the vine’s nourishment from reaching its branches (John 15:1-10).
Some may feel overwhelmed and exclaim, “I can’t do this! I don’t know how!” But that is the very point. It is not by our own strength that we succeed. After the cross experience, it is no longer “I that lives, but Christ that lives in me.” We have the Spirit of truth dwelling within us. We need only ask Him, and He will show us the way.
Let us read Christ’s comforting promise: “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall show you things to come” (John 16:13). Those fasting from lukewarmness will be shone the treasures of wisdom. [Don’t forget to do your homework. May Yah show you His secrets. Kenneth Wayne Hancock]
Immortality Road 
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A powerful message about staying fervent in our faith and avoiding lukewarmness. May we always seek God’s guidance, reject false teachings, and grow closer to Him. 🙏
I believe that everyone at different stages of their spiritual journey will get different levels of meanings from Christ’s cryptic words. For me, I see how the fasting Christ talks of is of a spiritual nature. When Jesus is asked about fasting and he replies with the parable about old and new garments. I believe he may be saying that physical fasting was under the old covenant, but the new covenant is about the spirit to include fasting in a spiritual way.
To the assignment: the three ways to move away from lukewarmness—buy gold forged in fire from Christ, put on white garment and eye salve to see. I believe these are of a spiritual nature too. I believe that buying gold forged in fire from Christ is about our innate selfish old self can die and a new spirit, God’s spirit, can arise in us through belief in Christ’s example—His example shows it is a painful process and suffering will occur. But once we have the old selfish self out, Christ’s loving pure spirit can enter us and eventually abide in us (put on White Garment). The eye salve is seeing through God’s eyes, seeing and understanding God’s spiritual realm which can occur when He lives in us.
Perhaps many people are lukewarm even when they are “on fire” for God because they just don’t know how to worship in spirit. The ancient prophets struggled, leading their flock, because the people always wanted something tangible to worship, so they built golden calves or went back to pagan worship or demanded a king to lead them. At the time of Christ, the Jewish people had created so many physical rituals, yet the people thought they were “on fire for God,” but Christ saw through it. And now over the years Christ’s spiritual new covenant has morphed into churches which are really just businesses and continued pagan worship under the guise of Christian holidays and ritualistic church services or praise worship services (all physical). Many are “on fire for God” just the spiritual part keeps baffling us humans.
The early church had trouble with this too. I believe it was Paul and Peter who wrote about continuing Jewish rituals as Christians. They both believed that it didn’t matter one way or the other if Christians continued, but we are free with Christ and not required to do the ritualistic worship. Although Paul did worry that unnecessary rituals and false teachings would (and has) compromised The Way Jesus had lined out for us. The way I deal with this with my own family is I take my family to church, but we talk critically about what happens there, and we discuss the pagan holidays. I also teach my kids they don’t have to mindlessly participate in the rituals if they don’t want. I teach them not to be judgmental on how others worship but what is important to God is worshiping in spirit (your selfless actions towards others and God) not the physical rituals.
Thank you, Sara, for putting a smile on my face. Thank you for allowing the Spirit to use you in expressing the thoughts and feelings about this deep subject of lukewarmness. It is a major league assignment that the Grand Teacher gave to us. What it has done as evidenced by your thoughts, is caused you to dig deep.
Christ said that the person who comes to Him and hears His words and puts them into practice–he is like the man who dug deep and built his house on the rock. When the flood came, when the troubles began, that person’s house with sure foundation was safe. [Three things Christ has us do: “come to Me;” “Hear My words;” “Do My words” Put them into practice] That is the sure foundation.
Christ’s “words” are His Logos–the mind of Christ, His thoughts, purpose and plan.
Great job! Totally enjoyed reading this. You get an “A” kwh
2nd CORINTHIANS 5:1-4> For. We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.
2- For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:
3- If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
4- For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.
REVELATION 7: 13-14> And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14- And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest,
And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
REVELATION 19:8> And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Knowing that there is but one righteous and that being Christ, Yahshua, it is His righteousness that we are clothed and covered by and his righteousness is our white raiment!
The eyesalve is the TRUTH that reveals to us the things that need to be exposed to the LIGHT .
JOHN 3:21> But he that doeth truth cometh to light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
JOHN 8:12> I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
JOHN 14: 6> Jesus (Yahshua) saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.
It is only by the light (Yahshua) that we can see, his light is a Spiritual light that shines to expose all falsehoods that the
Serpent has spread with the help of the
Pharasees of today, the denominational
” churches ” the daughters of their Babylonian Mother , the Roman Catholic
Church, MYSTERY BABYLON!!
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
GALATIANS 5:9 :
We need the eysalve of TRUTH to see the old leaven we have been fed for what it is and replace it with the unleavened bread which the Word of God is, pure
Clean, Yahshua the bread of life!
Yah be praised, thank YAH for his WORD!
May the Lord bless and continue give his
TRUTH to you my brother!!
I was grinning in the Spirit as I read your response. Totally enjoyed it. I loved how the Spirit through you took that theme of “the light” illuminating our path. Keep on sharing. Oh, and I am giving you an “A”! kwh