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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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Well, I hope that yesterday's episode compelled you to come back. If so, welcome. This week we are looking at Charles Spurgeon's great sermon called Compel them to Come In. The center point of that sermon is the parable of the great banquet told by Jesus that we see in Luke 14, verses 12 through 24. Let's go back to Spurgeon here. This is towards the end of his sermon, so the gloves are off now. Now I turn for one moment to some here. There are some of you here. Gloves are off now. Now I turn for one moment to some here.

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There are some of you here, members of Christian churches who make a profession of religion. But unless I be mistaken in you and I shall be happy if I am your profession is a lie. You do not live up to it. You dishonor it. You can live in the perpetual practice of absenting yourself from God's house, if not in sins worse than that. Now I ask such of you who do not adorn the doctrine of God, your Savior do you imagine that you can call me your pastor and yet that my soul cannot tremble over you and in secret weep for you? Again, I say it may be, but little concern to you how you defile the garments of your Christianity. But it is a great concern to God's hidden ones who sigh and cry and groan for the iniquities of the garments of your Christianity. But it is a great concern to God's hidden ones who sigh and cry and groan for the iniquities of the professors of Zion. Your profession is a lie. Now, this might sound a little judgy to a sensitive person's ears, but, my goodness, this is refreshing to me.

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In a sermon about the command to compel people to come to their heavenly father's great banquet to meet him in his kingdom, spurgeon pulls absolutely zero punches. He looks at his congregants and tells them that for some of them, their quote-unquote faith is vapid, it's non-existent. They profess it, but it's a lie. To go even further, the prince of preachers calls them out for missing the gathering of the saints at church and for not keeping to sound doctrine. With that in mind, let me remind you of these words from Jesus, and perhaps the most terrifying sentences in the entire Bible. This is Matthew 7, verses 21 through 23. Not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me Lord, lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Yeesh, I mean, I'm getting tingles up and down my spine right now. I mean that is really, really rough.

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And in reference to the 23rd verse there, the commentary critical and explanatory of the whole Bible, volume two, says this what they claimed intimacy with Christ is just what he repudiates, and with a certain scornful dignity. Our acquaintance was not broken off. There never was any. As if that weren't bad enough, let's go to Jesus again in Revelation 3, verses 15 and 16. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot? So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

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I like what Kendall H Easley had to say about this passage. Like her sister, church in Sardis, laodicea receives no compliment. These believers are neither hot nor cold. Repeated for emphasis they are lukewarm. A common interpretation has been that hot means spiritual fervor and cold means outright antagonism to the things of God, that the Lord prefers outright rejection than spiritual lukewarmness, which is indifference. However, Laodicea was near two other cities. Heropolis had hot medicinal waters. Colossae had cold, pure, refreshing water. Both were wonderful. What was terrible was the useless water of Laodicea. We drink hot tea or iced tea, but tea at room temperature is disgusting.

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So what are we to make of all this? Men, some of you are lukewarm. Some of you are just going through the motions. Some of you have professions that are lies. It's crap or get off the pot time. Guys, I compel you to come in. To those of you whose professions are not lies, let me remind you, even at your church, perhaps especially at your church you are surrounded by good folks, right? People that would literally give you the shirts off their backs. People that grew up going to vacation Bible school and currently have their kids in a Juana. People that vote Republican and listen to 90s country music which is the best kind, by the way but their professions are lies. They're not Christians. They are quote, unquote good as it pertains to your list of qualifications, but their names are not in the Lamb's book of life. Compel them to join you in your father's house. Don't miss tomorrow.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.