REV.#11~3:14-22 ~LAODICEIA- The Church That Makes Jesus Sick:
Today we’ll continue in our study of the book of the REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, today Lord willing we’re going to read and study a little to do with the 7th church, the church of Laodicea, the last day church, the church of mostly pretenders, they come to a church house in many cases for the sake of their reputation and to promote their business. This is the church that makes Jesus sick, as we’ll see in our text found today in Rev. 3:14-22 and we read this; Jesus said:
14And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.---and He tells why--
1 7 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:__
18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Let me say once again in case some may be listening for the 1st time, here in chapters 2 & 3 there are 7 churches that are mentioned, Jesus is doing all the talking, its all in red writing, Jesus is the Head of His True Church, He purchased His Church with His own Life and Blood, every body that says that their saved are not, some may think that they are, many have been deputed into this easy believeism, they’ve signed a card and shook the Preachers hand and maybe join the church, they sit under a preacher that speaks mainly on pleasant subjects,” love, heaven and all is well sort of thing”, you don’t here much about “hell”’ he’s afraid he might lose some of his members, and probably would. These are the “LAODECIANS” the pretenders.
They have not really received Jesus according to scripture, these are pretenders most of the time, they are under the big umbrella of Christendom, these have a form of religion minus salvation.
Jesus said in:
John 7:37-38---If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said,*** out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
The names of the 7 churches that we find in chapters 2&3 are:
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodiciea.
Each of these churches represents different periods of time that the church would be here on earth.
Ephesus, in the 1st century begin to loose the love of Christian values it had at 1st.
Smyrna, was a time of great persecution of true Christians.
Pergamus, was a period of time that the church began to compromise with the world, the government became ward of this church.
Thyatira, the corrupted church, this is time period that the Roman Catholic Church came on the scene.
Sardis, the time of the reform-ation, many believers found out the truth about Catholicism and protested, this is where the “Protestant” denominations come about, they finally heard and read for them selves that its having faith in Jesus Christ and not an endless maze of works that Catholsim taught.
Philadelphia, the 6th church, the mission minded church, the church of brotherly love, the time the Lord opened the door to the printed page, evangelism, radio, the internet, getting the word out.
And Laodiciea, the hour we’re in today, the pretending church, most are not saved at all. This is the church that makes Jesus sick, when the Lord calls out His True Church at the rapture, He’ll spew out the pretenders, their left behind, and many times today on Sunday morning the “Philadelphia” believers and the Laodecians are sitting under the same roof.
The Lord chose these particular 7 churches to illustrate to us different phases of the church during its time on earth, the church has been here now for over 2000 years, born on the day of Pentecost, we’re surely nearing the end of the church age.
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Let me point out that there were true believers in all of the 7 churches that are named, and they are still with us today in some form or fashion.
The Lord had nothing bad to say about, ”SMYRNA or PHILADELPHIA” the 2nd and 6th churches.
The downward slide that began with Ephesus, the 1st church period when it began losing their first love has now culminated in Laodicea being totally apostate.
This church has gotten so far away from the Lord that Jesus declares that it literally makes Him sick. -I will spew the out. –
Paul wrote letters to 7 different churches, ROM-GAL-EPH.-COR.-COL.-PHIL.- THESS.- and some of them twice.
John wrote to 7 churches in one writing. The Revelation.
The Laodicean age is from about 1900 to the rapture),
Notice the words, “church OF the Laodiceans.” In the other letter we notice that the church is referred to as, “the church in…. or the church of…..” and then the name of the city is there, but here Christ calls it the church of the Laodiceans. In other words IT WASN’T HIS CHURCH IT WAS THEIRS.
14-b These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
The Lord Jesus presented Himself as “the Amen,” which is an Old Testament title for God (Isa. 65:16 That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth;* [amen] and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth;* [amen]
The word “truth” is the Hebrew word amen). He is the truth and speaks the truth, because He is “the faithful and true witness”
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And then there was The Problem of no compassion (15- that thou art neither cold nor hot:) – Jesus tells them that they are like the water in their city, they have become lukewarm.
Laodicea had no water supply of its own, it piped cold water all the way from Colossea by aqueducts, so by the time it arrived it was no longer cold anymore, but warm.
They piped hot water from the Hierapolis Springs six miles away, so by the time it reached the city, it was only warm. So they had neither cold water nor hot water in Laodicea, only warm water. The Lord knew these people could relate to what He was revealing by using this application.
There are many Churches and Christians of our day that have lost their compassion for the cross and what it represents. They have no passion for the very reason that the Lord died for.
The Laodiceans don’t really care whether folks are saved are not, if people get saved that’s OK, and if their not saved that’s OK as well. They don’t realize that the very heartbeat of Jesus Christ is soul winning.
Jesus said in LK.19: 10For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Nothing seems to move the Laodiceans anymore, they prefer a Preacher that will speak on soft subjects, not about the reality of hell and damnation except you repent.
These Laodicean churches misrepresent the Lord – Jesus was a man of compassion! When we are indifferent, it gives the impression that Jesus is because we represent Him. We are Christ Ambassadors. ***
16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
The lukewarm Christian is comfortable, complacent, and does not realize his need.
A cold Laodicean church is a church that has denied the doctrine of the faith. It is given over to formality like the church of Sardis and is carrying on in active opposition to the Word of God.** [niv ] they seldom hear the KJV.
For instance, when Jesus was dealing with the devil in LK. 4:4 He said, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
The NIV says, man shall not live by bread alone. And leaves out “but by every word of God.”
These Laodiceans have a form of godliness but are denying the power thereof. They have a name that they live, but they are dead. They are neither hot nor cold—they are lukewarm.
And then there Was The Problem of Perception (17 17Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
When the members of the church at Laodicea looked at themselves they saw themselves as the perfect church. They were wealthy, they were powerful as for as the community was concerned, and they had all they needed. Yet in truth they had no compassion for the lost or the truth of Gods Word, they were indifferent, and unmoved.
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THE LORDS ADVISE FOR LAODICEA ( 18I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
He tells them:
1. He Still Loves Them and because He Loves Them, He Will Chasten Them and that they Need To Repent.
1. If They Come To Him They Will Have True Riches.
2. If They Come To Him He Will Clothe Them in The Garments of Salvation
3. If They Will Come To Him He will Restore Their Spiritual Vision.
The Lord reveals to the Laodcians His Disgust With The Church (16) – I will “spue thee out of my mouth.” The word “spue” means to vomit or throw up.
(17) – They thought they were rich and had it all. But He looks at them and tells them that they have nothing!
And then the promises to the church of Laodicea:
20Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: back in chapter one He was seen walking in the mist of the church, here they have put Him out side.
if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He wants to get back into this church.- He continually knocks.-
He says that He don’t have to have the whole church to open the door, -He says that if any man will open the door He will fellowship with that man.
- All the blessings of salvation will be given to anyone who overcomes.
The church cannot be a “closed system.” Jesus said,
John 15:5 Without Me ye can do nothing.
The 2nd church of SMYRNA thought they were poor, but the Lord said to Smyrna in 2: 9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) the church of Smyrna was poor physically and materially, but was rich spiritually.
The Laodicians thought they were rich on every aspect, but they were poor spiritually.
