Are we the Lukewarm church?

Behold, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: pride, overabundance of food, prosperous ease, and idleness were hers and her daughters’; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abominable offenses before Me   Ezekiel 16:49-50

As I read the verse above, something jumped out at me, and whenever that happens I normally stop and ask God what He wants me to learn. I ponder, read, do more research and meditate on it until I hear from God.  In this chapter in Ezekiel, God is chastising Israel for her sins by comparing them to those of Sodom, and saying that Israel has done much worse. It's a very terrifying and humbling passage.  Yet, I sense that God is saying much the same thing to our present day Westernized church.  

In Revelation, Jesus through the Apostle John sends letters to 7 churches, all but one with praises and all, but one, with condemnation.  Of course these were real churches at the time, but many theologians believe that these churches represent "church ages" that will occur until the Lord returns. 

It's a really interesting theory that seems to match well with church history. 

For a more thorough discussion of this, this website is awesome: http://www.endtimes-bibleprophecy.com/page27.htm

Here's a list of the churches and their identifying phrase

Ephesus - Lots of good works, but eventually lost their love for God 

Smyrna - Persecuted church 

Pergamos  - Compromising church

Thyatira - Sexually corrupt church 

Sardis -    Dead church

Philadelphia - Faithful Church

Laodicea - Lukewarm Church

Jesus has a pretty strong message for this last lukewarm church. One to which we should all heed to personally as well as corporately

gateofthecity.blogspot.com

I know your works and what you are doing; you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth!

For you say, I am rich; I have prospered and grown wealthy, and I am in need of nothing; and you do not realize and understand that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

 Revelation 3:15-17 Amplified

This brought to mind a few other verses in Scripture:  One is something Jesus said diredtly to His followers:  
Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?

And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].  Matt 7:21-23 Amplified

Jesus tells the Apostle John to tell the Laodicean church that they are naked and don't even know it. But if they come to Him, He will clothe them in white linen.  In Matthew 22, Jesus mentions another time when a person was naked without his robe of white linen. This time it was at the wedding feast that will occur at the end of the age for all the true saints and Jesus. But apparently someone tried to sneak in naked without their wedding garment.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and

cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are called, but few are chosen.”  Matthew 22:11-14

  These are verses that you may not hear too often in church. They are tough verses to swallow. I admit, they cause me to tremble as well. Yes, God extends grace and salvation to those who profess Jesus as Lord, but not all who profess Jesus as Lord are saved.    That is worth repeating  
Yes, God extends grace and salvation to those who profess Jesus as Lord, but not all who profess Jesus as Lord are saved.  

It's more than a mental belief or verbal declaration. It's a HEART issue and a relationship. AND if your heart truly belongs to Jesus, then your life WILL NOT BE  lukewarm for Him.  It can't be. If you truly believe in your heart and are a disciple of Jesus. If He is your Lord and you are following Him above ALL ELSE, I guarantee you CANNOT be a Lukewarm Christian. At least not for long, because God will not leave you that way.

I'm truly frightened for the Western all-grace-focused Church. I fear that most people in church these days have one foot in God's Kingdom and one foot in the world. They love the things of this world and place them as idols in their heart, shoving away any zeal for God.  But what frightens me even more is that these people don't realize they are wretched and poor and naked and that someday if they do not repent and turn back to God, they will be cast from the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. 

Believe me, I'm preaching to myself as much as I am to you. I encourage you to do what I do. Check your heart everyday. Ask God to burn from it anything that keeps you from placing Jesus on the throne of your life. Ask him for the strength, faith, and zeal to be Sizzling Hot for Him and the things of His Kingdom and never to be lukewarm. Then do the hard work. Pray, stay in the Word, and spend time with your Father in Heaven. There are no shortcuts. But the price for eternal life is FREE. It's free, but no one said it would be easy!

But the gate is narrow (contracted by pressure) and the way is straitened and compressed that leads away to life, and few are those who find it. Matthew 7:14 Amplified