In his book, The Second Coming of the Church, Christian researcher and pollster, George Barna, documents his findings about the differences in behaviors between those who identify themselves as born again Christians and non-Christians here in the United States. Among the results of his surveys are these:
• Have been divorced:
o Born again Christians – 27%
o Non-Christians – 23%
• Donated money to a non-profit organization in the last month:
o Born again Christians – 47%
o Non-Christians – 48%
• Bought a lottery ticket in the past week:
o Born again Christians – 23%
o Non-Christians – 27%
• Gave money to a homeless person or poor person in the past year:
o Born again Christians – 24%
o Non-Christians – 34%
He found similar results with people’s attitudes:
• Satisfied with your life today:
o Born again Christians – 69%
o Non-Christians – 68%
• You are still trying to figure out your purpose in life:
o Born again Christians – 36%
o Non-Christians – 47%
As a result of these findings as well as the results of other surveys his company has completed over the years, Barna made this insightful, but troubling comment:
The vast majority of Christians do not behave differently because we do not think differently, and we do not think differently because we have never trained or equipped ourselves, or held one another accountable to do so.
Although the church in America certainly has much in common with all of the seven churches addressed in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation, it is probably most like the church that we’ll read about this morning – the church in Laodicea. And that certainly explains why we often don’t see a lot of difference between those who claim to be Christians and the rest of the world. Let’s read Jesus’ words to the church in Laodicea:
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
We’ll use the same outline that we’ve used to examine the previous six messages.
1. Church – Laodicea
The name of the city – Laodicea – is a compound Greek word that means “decision of the people” and as we’ll see, that is certainly an accurate description of what was going on in the church there. Although it had a significant Jewish population it was also a center for Caesar worship. The city was known for three institutions that are very relevant to what Jesus has to say to the church there:
• Banking system. Laodicea was a wealthy city that stood at the intersection of two major trade routes. In fact, there was so much wealth in the city that when it was devastated by an earthquake in AD 60, they refused the help of the Romans in rebuilding the city and instead relied upon their own resources.
• Clothing industry. Through careful breeding, the people had produced sheep with soft glossy black wool which was woven into expensive garments.
• Medical school. The medical school was located 13 miles northwest of the city and was associated with the healing god Asklepios, who also played an important role in Pergamum, as we saw several weeks ago. People came from all around the region to obtain their famous eye salve.
One of the city’s biggest problems was its lack of adequate drinking water. Because they had to bring in water through an underground aqueduct system, they were vulnerable to enemies who could easily cut off that supply. So the political leaders there were constantly accommodating and compromising with their enemies.
With the exception of Ephesus, we know more about the church in Laodicea than we do about any of the other churches. Paul mentions the church there in his letter to the church at Colossae, which was only ten miles away. According to that letter, at least one of the local bodies met in the house of a woman named Nympha. Paul also commends Epaphras for his hard work in the church in Laodicea and nearby Hierapolis.
2. Christ
…the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.
Jesus first describes Himself as the “Amen”, which is further clarified by the fact that He is the faithful and true witness. The Hebrew word “amen” is primarily the acknowledgement of that which is valid and binding. It is the very same word that Jesus often used to introduce truth that He was about to teach. In most of our English Bibles, it is usually translated “verily, verily” or “truly, truly”, but Jesus was literally saying “amen, amen.” Paul helps us further understand this idea:
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.
2 Corinthians 1:20 (ESV)
In other words, all of God’s promises are valid and binding because they are guaranteed and affirmed by the person and work of Jesus. Jesus described Himself in chapter 1 as the “faithful witness”. But He further embellishes that description by add the word “true”, which is a reference to the fact that He is real and genuine. As we’ll see, that is in stark contrast to the church in Laodicea, which was far from genuine.
Jesus also describes Himself as the beginning of God’s creation. This description would have certainly brought to mind Paul’s words to the Colossian church:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Colossians 1:15-20 (ESV)
That passage was very likely an early church hymn that celebrated the creative work of Jesus. He was the beginning of God’s creation, not in the sense that He was created Himself, but rather that He was both the source of all that was created as well as the one who carried out the act of creation. This was an important revelation to a church that had become so self-absorbed and self-dependent.
3. Commendation – None!
This is the only one of the seven churches to whom there is not even one word of commendation.
4. Condemnation
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
• They were lukewarm...
As I mentioned earlier, water had to be imported into the city through a system of underground aqueducts and by the time the water reached the city it was lukewarm and stale. That was in stark contrast to two other nearby water sources.
Six miles away was the city of Hierapolis, which was famous for its hot springs. The water eventually flowed from the city and down a cliff that was a mile wide and 300 wide, directly across from and visible from Laodicea. By the time the water eventually reached Laodicea, it had become lukewarm and putrid.
Ten miles in the other direction was the city of Colossae, which was home to cold, pure refreshing spring water.
So when Jesus says that he would rather have them be either hot or cold, the point he is making is that they have become so lukewarm in their faith that they are neither refreshing like the cold, pure water of Colossae nor healing like the hot springs in Hierapolis. He is not saying, as some have suggested, that He would rather His followers be completely cold toward Him rather than lukewarm.
The fact that Jesus describes this church as lukewarm gives us some pretty good clues about what had happened there. I have here two cups of tea that I poured earlier this morning. This cup, when I first poured it, contained hot tea and it was very soothing when I drank some of it earlier.
This other cup had iced tea in it earlier this morning, and when I drank it, it was very refreshing. But both of these cups now contain lukewarm tea, which really isn’t either soothing or refreshing. In fact, the tea in both of these cups is now virtually the same temperature because what has occurred over the last couple of hours is that the tea in each cup has gradually taken on the temperature of its surroundings and they have become virtually indistinguishable.
In a sense, that is exactly what had happened to the church in Laodicea. Although they had once provided spiritual refreshment and healing, they had gradually allowed themselves to take on the characteristics of the world around them and had become virtually indistinguishable from the world. Kind of reminds you of the results from George Barna regarding the church in America doesn’t it?
And as a result, Jesus says that He is going to spit them out of His mouth, the word that He uses there is literally “vomit.” In the same way that putrid, lukewarm water might cause one to vomit physically, the lukewarmness of the church in Laodicea is causing Jesus to do that spiritually. But as bad as that is, there is an even deeper problem here. The church is lukewarm…
• But they didn’t even know it!
There is a huge disconnect here between how the church views themselves and what they are really like from Jesus’ perspective – a great contrast between what they say they are and what they are in reality.
Notice how self-centered and self-dependent this church is. Jesus gives three examples of how they describe themselves, each time beginning with the word “I”: I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing…” Although the people may have still read the Scriptures, prayed, sang hymns and proclaimed Jesus as their only savior and hope, the reality of the situation is that they were only dependent upon themselves. And with that mindset, it became rather easy for them to just be assimilated into the culture around them and become lukewarm.
But the reality of the situation is that they were “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” The first two words that Jesus uses to describe them – wretched and pitiable – describe their overall condition. I’m reminded of this insightful quote. Although I was unable to identify the original author, these words describe quite accurately the Christians in Laodicea, and unfortunately, many in our country today:
Deep down, there is no one more miserable than the lukewarm Christian is. They have too much of the world to be happy in Jesus, but too much of Jesus to be happy in the world.
The last three conditions – poor, blind and naked – describe specific aspects of their lukewarmness that Jesus will address in His counsel to them.
5. Counsel
Because there is nothing for which Jesus can commend this church, He provides the church with quite a lengthy word of counsel:
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
When Jesus counsels the church to “buy” from Him, he is obviously not implying that they can pay Him money or engage in some act that would earn these things. This passage from the prophet Isaiah is helpful in understanding what Jesus is saying here:
Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Isaiah 55:1-3 (ESV)
The way that the church is to “buy” these things from Jesus is by coming to Him and listening diligently to Him as He provides them with spiritual food. The point Jesus is making here is this:
• What they needed, they could only get from Jesus:
The key words here are “from me”. That is the only place that they could obtain what they really needed. They weren’t going to obtain it through their own efforts. As long as we believe we can meet these needs ourselves, we will never be able to obtain them from Jesus. Here’s how Paul communicated this same idea to a young pastor named Timothy:
As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:17-19 (ESV)
Interestingly enough, the three things which Jesus was ready to provide for the church have a direct correlation to the three things on which the city of Laodicea prided themselves:
o Spiritual riches
When Jesus speaks of gold refined by the fire, He is obviously not referring here to physical gold, but rather to the kind of spiritual riches possessed by the church in Smyrna. According to Jesus, even though they were materially destitute, they were spiritually rich. These are the riches described by Paul in Ephesians:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places…
Ephesians 1:3 (ESV)
James also provides us with a further confirmation of the kind of riches that the church in Laodicea needs to seek from Jesus:
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
James 2:5 (ESV)
Although the banking system there in Laodicea may have been a lot more solvent than the one in our country today, it couldn’t even begin to provide the kind of riches that are found only in Jesus.
o Righteousness
We’ve already seen white garments in the message to church in Sardis and we’ll see them again frequently throughout the book of Revelation. Jesus is likely contrasting these white garments with the costly black garments produced there in Laodicea. In some sense, these white garments are always a picture of righteousness in the sight of God – a righteousness that can only be obtained from Jesus, and never based on our own efforts, as Paul confirms frequently in New Testament passages like this:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith…
Philippians 3:8, 9 (ESV)
We can never obtain righteousness before God on our own. Only our faith in Jesus alone can provide us with the white garments of righteousness.
o Spiritual sight
Although the people lived in a city that was famous for its eye salve, that medicine had no ability whatsoever to cure their spiritual blindness. The only cure for spiritual blindness is Jesus Himself.
Luke records how Jesus, as He began His earthly ministry, picked up the scroll of Isaiah and read these words:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind…
Luke 4:18 (ESV)
In spite of the fact that this church had turned their back on Jesus, Jesus didn’t turn His back on them. In fact, He says that He is giving them two commands because he loves them. The word for love that He uses indicates that He has tender affection for them. And because of that love, He is going to rebuke and discipline them with the hope that they will return to Him. So He gives them…
• Two commands:
o Be zealous
This is a present tense command, which means that they are to continually engage in a lifestyle in which they are zealous for Jesus. This is obviously in stark contrast to their present lukewarmness. The kind of zeal that Jesus describes here is the kind of wholehearted commitment that is based on being enthralled and captured by Jesus. It is that kind of zeal for Jesus that serves as the antidote to gradually acclimating to the culture around us.
o Repent
This is the same command that we’ve seen to all five of the churches for whom Jesus has a word of condemnation. The grammar indicates that this is an urgent command which needs to be carried out immediately. It’s still not too late for the church to make a u-turn and return to Jesus, but time is running out.
And then in verse 20, Jesus lets them know exactly how they can repent and become zealous so that they can get what they really need from Jesus.
• How to get what they really needed – let Jesus in
Verse 20 is commonly used when we are sharing our faith with unbelievers and inviting them to make a commitment to Jesus. While there is not necessarily anything wrong with that, if we keep the context in mind, Jesus is speaking here to His followers who have become lukewarm in their faith, not to unbelievers.
To a church that has pushed Jesus out the door and shut it in His face because they think they can live out their Christian lives on their own, Jesus remains waiting patiently outside the door, hoping that the church will invite Him back in. But He won’t force His way back in. Jesus never does that. Now that Jesus has revealed to them what they are really like and the fact that they can only get what they need from Him, the next step is up to them. They can either repent, choose to listen to Jesus instead of themselves, and then open the door and let Jesus in, or they can just keep on living in spiritual poverty, nakedness and blindness.
Jesus makes an absolutely amazing promise to the church. If they are willing to listen to Him and open the door and let Him back in, He will come in and dine with them. And He’s not speaking here of going through the drive-through and picking up burgers and fries at the In-N-Out. The meal He describes here is a specific meal – the main meal of the day, which was a leisurely affair of intimate fellowship. What a wonderful promise! And we still haven’t even looked at the final challenge and promise to those who overcome.
6. Challenge
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
The promise to those who overcome:
• Reign with Jesus
This is very similar to the promise that Jesus gave to the church at Thyatira. As we saw there, this is most likely a picture of us reigning with Jesus during His millennial reign here on earth. Those who overcome will have the privilege of sitting with Jesus on His throne, the very one given to Him by His Father.
We’ve covered a lot of material over the past seven weeks. We’ve been exposed to some good churches, like Smyrna and Philadelphia, that held fast to Jesus in spite of the difficult circumstances that they faced. We’ve also seen some churches who were really struggling – Ephesus had lost their love for Jesus and for each other; Pergamum and Thyatira were dealing with false teachers who had infiltrated the church and threatened it from within; Sardis was busy on the outside, but dead on the inside, and Laodicea had become lukewarm in their faith.
The danger for us is that we’ll just study the messages to these churches and then just go on living our lives the same way that we always have, in which case it is quite likely that our lives won’t look a whole lot different than the world around us. There is an antidote to that danger right here in this message, as well as in the other six messages that we’ve looked at. I’ve intentionally not focused on that part of the message until now. In every one of the seven messages, Jesus speaks these words:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
There is both an individual and a corporate responsibility to respond to these seven messages.
On one hand, Jesus refers to the individual – “He who has an ear.” Jesus knows that not everyone who hears these seven messages is going to heed them. Only those who are truly seeking to live a godly life in Him will have the spiritual ears to hear the message. And, as you might expect, the word “hear” that He uses here is a word that means to “listen carefully with the purpose of applying what one hears.” That reminds us of the opening words of the entire book:
Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
Revelation 1:3 (ESV)
But there is also a corporate aspect – we are to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches". Notice that the word “churches” is plural. Even though each message is addressed to a specific church and it addresses issues which were particular to each of those churches, there is a sense in which all seven messages are relevant to all churches in all ages.
So my question to you this morning is this – are you willing to hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches and then make the changes needed in your life to heed what we’ve learned over the last seven weeks? Before you hastily answer “yes” to that question, let me just warn you that will be very difficult to do. It will require you to prayerfully go back over these seven messages and honestly evaluate your own life to see where you might need to repent and make some changes. I know that God has certainly used these seven messages to point out some areas in my own life where I need to make some changes and I’m committed, with God’s help, to begin to make those changes.
I also want to encourage you as you go through that process to think about how we measure up as a church body. And if you think of some things that we might need to repent of and change as a body, please let me or one of our elders know about that.
Together let’s make sure that we listen for the voice of Jesus and that we open the door so that He can come in and we can experience intimate fellowship with Him. That’s the only way that we’re going to make sure that we don’t look just like the rest of the world around us.
