There is a fairly good thread on that over on the GT board if your interested
What is lukewarm?
The letter is written to the 7th Assembly in Revelation, and according to this commentator, it is the most deplorable of the 7 Assemblies:
Kindgdom Bible Studies Revelation Series
“And by the Messengerof the Assembly in
Laodicia write!…” (Rev. 3:14).
The seventh and final church is the church in Laodicea. It is the most deplorable of the seven, representing the very worst spiritual condition a church can come to. Therefore, it also presents the greatest challenges to the overcoming elect, for the spiritual conditions within the churches are the very things we are called upon to overcome! The promise to the overcomer in this church is the
greatest of all the promises! Therefore Laodicea represents both the lowest and the highest realms of experience in the Lord’s people................
But to be “cold” — what is that? Does it denote a state of corruption, wickedness, sin, such as characterizes the world of unbelievers? We cannot so regard it! It would be absurd and repulsive to represent the Lord as wishing under any circumstances that persons should be in such a condition, preferable to at least
some knowledge and experience of Christ. Yet He says, “I
would thou wert
cold or hot.” No state can be more offensive to the Spirit of holiness than that of the sinner in open rebellion, unbelief, and a heart filled with every evil. David said of the Lord, “For thou art not a God that hath
pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee.” What David was declaring is that sinners will never be “tasty” to the Lord! Nor will they ever be in His mouth to be cold, lukewarm, or hot, for evil will not dwell with Him in any way. What about believers who have had experiences with the Lord but left Him for the pleasures of sin? Can this be the cold that could be a tasty drink to the Lord? The writer to the Hebrews stated that “the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have
no pleasure in him.” It is therefore incorrect to represent the Lord as preferring that condition to any position which His people can occupy while they are still counted as His. Furthermore, the threat of rejection is
because they are
neither cold nor hot! It is as much as to say that if they were
either cold or hot, they would be accepted of Him in a place of blessing and honor. But if by
cold is meant a state of open worldly unbelief or wickedness, they certainly would not be welcomed into the highest purposes of the kingdom! Hence such cannot be its meaning.
It is my deep conviction that by this language our Lord has no reference whatever to those outside His body, but that He refers to three
spiritual planes or
conditions, two of which are more acceptable to Him than the third. Heat
and cold are preferable to lukewarmness! But what kind of spiritual state is denoted by the term “cold”? The Lord points out that cold and hot drinks have a tastiness to them. Cold and hot drinks are something we prefer much more than something lukewarm! Cold and hot, to be true to the Spirit’s analogy, must both be something “tasty” to the Lord and something to be desired. Obviously a saint cannot be both at the same time! But, as a drink of tea may be cold in summer time and hot in winter, so can a child of God be cold or hot at different points in their walk in Christ! A person can be hungry or full, but not at the same time; yet, he can be both, and both are commended by the Lord! A tree may be covered with leaves and loaded with fruit in the summer season, and then be barren, stark, and cold in the winter; but in either season the tree has life in it and is faithfully fulfilling its necessary role in the cycles of its purpose. The owner of the orchard is just as pleased with the barren tree in winter as he is with the fruitful tree in summer!
Let us meditate further on the tree at winter time. The cold tree does not have much value or outward fruitfulness in this season. It cannot serve even as a break against the cold north winds! It offers no shade from the sun, nor any fruit to the hungry. It is the very picture of bleakness, leanness, and desolation as it faces the tribulations of winter. Its life has sunk very deep within as it is buffeted by the cold winds, rain, ice, and snow. And yet, this state is necessary to the survival of the tree! It is like sleep for a human, a time of rest, recuperation, strengthening, and preparation for the season of fruit bearing when it shall become bread to the hungry, shade to the distressed, moisture to the atmosphere, and the joy of the whole earth!
Thus, the cold relates to those seasons of testing, trial, tribulation, stripping, purging, pruning, and chastening under the hand of our Father. Just as the tree stands enduring the winter, so we stand enduring our winter times. In these cold or winter experiences we feel sometimes as though God has forsaken us, the heavens become brass, and joy and blessing flee the soul. This is what the mystics have referred to as
“the dark night of the soul.” It is a time of dryness, leanness, testing, and darkness in which we learn what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. Eventually we discover that there is great
purpose in these distressing seasons, and great and wonderful lessons are learned there that can be learned in no other way! The very hand of God leads us through this valley of the shadow of death until there is raised up in us the understanding, wisdom, faith, power, and nature of the Lord. Then we are able to appreciate all the more the greatness of our God and His faithfulness, power, and purpose in all things! THIS, MY BELOVED, IS THE
COLD IN WHICH OUR FATHER REJOICES! Either cold or hot, stripped and tested or blessed and fruitful, He delights in our way. It is only the
tepid lukewarm that He loathes!
