And I'll be reading verses 14 through 22 of Revelation chapter 3.

And to the angel of the church in Leodicea write,

The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's

creation. I know your works. 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 I need nothing, not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

Therefore, I counsel you to buy from me gold, refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of

your nakedness from being seen, and sab to anoint your eyes that you may see. Those whom I love I reprove and chasten. So be

zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. and him and eat with him and he with me. He who conquers I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I myself conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the

spirit says to the churches. Revelation chapter 3,

3, 14 to 22, is a letter from Jesus to the Church at Leodicea in Asia Minor. It was given to John in a vision, according to chapter

one, all these letters were, and the purpose of this letter is to save this church from lukewarmness

and consequent destruction.

It's a message that every church needs to hear, I think, especially at the beginning of a week of concerted prayer and fasting, which is where we stand at Bethlehem. These are solemn words of counsel and love and they're

addressed to a church that is content with where it is spiritually and thinks that it needs no more of Christ

than it already has.

And so anyone who thinks that we don't need a week of prayer and fasting at the outset of 1983

needs to read this letter from the Lord to Bethlehem again and again and again.

And so I want to read it once with you this morning and perhaps just enable you to read it with greater effect later on during the week.

Let's look at it together.

Verse 14, and to the angel of the church in Leoticea write,

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