Revelation 3: Recovering the Fire of Revival

Introduction

"Recovering the fire of revival is the urgent need of the hour." Invited by Pastor Jean-Marc to the Assemblée de Dieu de Toulouse Ouest, Dominique Boko shares that he had searched for a long time for the message for that Sunday. It was during a Thursday evening of prayer with young people that the Lord opened his eyes to this thought.

The text is the letter to the church in Laodicea, in Revelation 3:14-22. The preacher treats it as a case study: a prosperous, active, self-assured church, to whom Jesus nevertheless says: "you are the wretched one, miserable, poor, blind, and naked."

The question he asks is simple: how can a church, or a Christian, who has become lukewarm recover the fire? He proposes six actions, summed up like this: "The fire is lost when we take our independence from the Lord. We recover the fire when we acknowledge our lukewarmness, when we repent and when we open the door to the Lord."

Outline of the Message

1. Laodicea, a Rich Church That Had Lost the Fire

Laodicea was a prosperous city of Asia Minor, known for its wealth, its banking, its textile industry and its medical care. This prosperity had probably fed a certain self-sufficiency among its inhabitants.
There is a striking contrast between what the church thinks of itself and what Christ, the owner of the church, sees in it.
The problem was not a lack of activity, programs or resources. The brothers and sisters were on the move, but the church had lost its spiritual fervor.
"I wish you were cold or hot." What the Lord wants is for us to choose.
The tragedy is that this lukewarmness did not even seem to worry the church. It had lost its first glow without knowing it.
The preacher speaks of "backsliders who stay seated": there are those who left the church, and those who stayed seated inside it after losing their zeal. "These are the most dangerous, because they think they are alive and yet they are dead."

2. Submitting to Christ's Diagnosis

"Revival begins when the church accepts Christ's diagnosis." It is not about looking at ourselves with our own eyes, but about letting ourselves be "put through Christ's scanner."
Before giving his diagnosis, Jesus presents himself as "the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness." The Amen speaks of firmness, certainty, truth, reliability: his diagnosis is genuine. As the faithful witness, he does not rely on appearances or on the reputation that people give us.
We can fool people about our real condition, but we cannot fool Christ. The real question is not what people think of me, but what Christ sees in me when he looks at me. "You see me well, I am well dressed, I am the only one wearing a tie here. But Christ sees what is going on in my heart."
Lukewarmness is serving God without the enthusiasm of the beginning: praying without passion, hearing the Word without being transformed, witnessing without enthusiasm, loving God without committing to his interests.
Loving God has implications: we do not copy the trends of the day, we do not live like the world around us, we commit ourselves to God, we are ready to suffer for his cause.
"When you are sick and you do not know you are sick, how can you be healed?" The church said it was in good health, and it was not at all.

3. Identifying What Put Out the Fire

The tendency of fire is to die out. Without upkeep, the flame sinks, leaving only embers, then ashes. Many Christians received the fire at the start without tending it: they think they still have fire, but they only have ashes "that give their neighbors a cold."
The first cause is self-sufficiency. "I am rich, and have gotten riches, and have need of nothing" (verse 17). Yet the Christian life is "the life of another through the channel of another": the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit. This is why Jesus said it was to our advantage that he go away so that the Helper would come (John 16:7).
The second cause is a false perception of wealth. Laodicea had material riches, but it was poor spiritually. God's standards are not the world's.
The preacher tells an anecdote attributed to Pope Innocent IV and Thomas Aquinas. The pope said: "We can no longer say, like Peter: we have neither silver nor gold." Thomas Aquinas answered: "And you can no longer say: get up and walk" (see Acts 3:6).
"It is not material wealth that will save people. It is spiritual wealth." Our presence in the world will have an impact only if it rests on power from above, not on power from below.
It is neither our muscles nor our human philosophy that save, but the Word of God, powerful like a two-edged sword to convict hearts (Hebrews 4:12), provided it comes with the power of the Holy Spirit.
The third cause is spiritual blindness. The church was blind to its own condition. The fire goes out when we begin to believe we can live without depending daily on Christ. "He is the inspector of the church, and he is the one who commissioned us to work for him."

4. Receiving the Lord's Remedy

In verse 18, Jesus advises buying from him gold refined by fire, white garments and eye salve. Three problems, three solutions.
Against poverty: gold refined by fire.
Against nakedness: white garments. For the preacher, this speaks of testimony, "a vibrant testimony, a blazing testimony" in the midst of those who do not know the Lord.
Against blindness: eye salve, so that spiritual eyes open to their own reality. Only then will they be able to recover revival, peace and communion with him.

5. Rekindling the Fire Through Zeal and Repentance

The Lord gives the remedy, but he does not force anyone to take it. He holds out his hand: "Be zealous therefore, and repent" (verse 19).
"Zeal is the direct opposite of lukewarmness." We must be boiling, lively, vigorous for the Lord, so much so that the way we live our faith makes others want to serve him.
"A sad Christian is a sorry Christian. He does not know who he is, he does not know what he has, he does not know who is with him." The One who is with us is greater than the one who is against us.
Our joy does not depend on what we have, even when we cannot manage to pay the rent. It depends on our connection with Christ, who promised to be with us every day until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
We are ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven, strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Our prosperity depends neither on France nor on Côte d'Ivoire: war, crisis or heat wave, the blessing comes from above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and intercedes for us (Romans 8:34).
"When you pray, pray with zeal. When you read the Bible, read it with zeal. When you witness, witness with zeal." Among eight billion people, you are unique: do not try to look like the citizens of this world.
To repent is to return, to acknowledge our lukewarmness and to leave it behind. "As many as I love, I reprove and chasten": if the Lord speaks to you this way, it is because he loves you. He judges his children now to set them right again, not to lose them.
In trials, he walks into the furnace with you, like the fourth man whom Nebuchadnezzar saw (Daniel 3:24-25). "He turns the furnace into an air conditioner."

6. Reopening the Door to Christ

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock" (verse 20). The paradox is striking: Christ, the owner of the church, is outside, in front of the door of the church that bears his name.
This verse is often used for evangelism, but in its context it is addressed to a church.
"I stand": Christ is present and waits patiently until you decide to open.
"I knock": Christ takes the initiative to restore the relationship.
"If anyone hears my voice": an almost desperate longing. When we come home and no one opens the gate, we honk louder: "This is my house!" Jesus, for his part, knocks and waits. Restoration begins with listening.
"And opens the door": besides compassion, Christ shows himself a gentleman. He could force his way in, and he does not. "For the miracle to happen, God's initiative must meet human initiative."
"I will dine with him": like the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24), discouraged, who recognized Jesus when he broke the bread and went back to Jerusalem that very evening. Dining with Christ turns lukewarmness into zeal and restores energy.

7. Recovering a Victorious Life

"He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit with me on my throne" (verse 21). We need to recover the fire in order to live a life of victory.
The purpose of this victory is to share his glory. The preacher reminds us that the last trumpet will sound and that those who believed will be caught up to meet him (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). There will be no more crying, mourning or wailing, because the former things will have passed away (Revelation 21:4).
The fire Christ wants to restore produces a life oriented toward the kingdom, so that the fragrance of a vibrant testimony leads others to know that Jesus has not changed.
The urgency is that everyone hear the voice of God and know that Christ is at their door. He is not tired of knocking: you cost him dearly, you are precious in his eyes, it was for you that he went to the cross. He will keep knocking until you open. "But be careful that the right time does not pass, because there is a time for everything."
"A person visited by the Lord does not stay the same. They receive a new passion, a new consecration, a new authority, a new ability to witness."

Key Takeaways

A church can be active and yet lukewarm. The greatest danger is not knowing that we are sick.
Revival begins when we accept the diagnosis of Christ, who sees beyond appearances.
The fire goes out through self-sufficiency, a false idea of wealth and spiritual blindness, that is, when we take our independence from the Lord.
Zeal is the opposite of lukewarmness. The Lord's correction is proof of his love.
Christ knocks at the door of his church. He does not force his way in: he waits for us to hear his voice and open to him.

Personal Application

If Christ gave his diagnosis of your life today, what would he say about your prayer, your reading of the Word and your witness?
In what area have you taken your independence from the Lord, thinking you could manage on your own?
By what standards do you measure your wealth: the world's or God's?
Does the way you live your faith make those around you want to serve the Lord?
What is keeping you, this week, from opening the door to Christ so that he can dine with you?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does it mean to be lukewarm according to Revelation 3?

For Dominique Boko, lukewarmness is not the absence of activity. The church in Laodicea was on the move, but it had lost its fervor. We can pray without passion, hear the Word without being transformed, witness without enthusiasm. The most serious thing is that this church did not grasp how serious its condition was.

What puts out a Christian's spiritual fire?

The preacher identifies three causes in the text: self-sufficiency ("I have need of nothing"), a false perception of wealth (rich in the eyes of the world, poor in the eyes of God) and spiritual blindness. The fire is lost when we take our independence from the Lord and think we can live without depending on Christ every day.

Is "I stand at the door and knock" addressed to unbelievers?

This verse is often used for evangelism, but Dominique Boko points out that, in its context, Jesus is speaking to a church. The owner of the church finds himself outside. He stands at the door, he knocks, he waits for us to hear his voice, and he does not enter by force: he waits for us to open.