The Church at Laodicea: A Complacent Church - Revelation 3:14-22 - 2/21/10
Turn with me this morning to the last book in the Bible, the book of Revelation, chapter 3. As you’re turning, think about getting ready for church this morning. If you are female, you probably thought through your wardrobe and what you for the last three weeks. You color-coordinated your accessories, and made sure everything was picture-perfect. If you’re male, you probably grabbed whatever was closest in the closet, and sniffed it to make sure it was clean. But male or female, you probably took some time in front of the mirror, because you wanted to make sure you knew how you looked to others.
In the book of James, we find the word of God to be like a mirror. We come to it to see what we look like to God. And as we see ourselves, we want to make whatever changes are necessary to look presentable. If you got dressed this morning and walked in front of the mirror and saw that it was a bad hair day, you wouldn’t walk away from the mirror until you had brushed or combed your hair and gotten it just right. In the same way, as we look at the mirror of God’s word, we want to make sure that as we see ourselves, we make whatever changes are necessary to be pleasing to God.
James writes in chapter 1, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
So today, we want to continue on today, looking at the question, “What does God think of His church?” How does God view us? And we want to change our lives to be pleasing to Him. Here in Revelation 1, we find the disciple John, living on an island off the coast of Turkey, writing about 95 AD, some 65 years after Jesus has died and resurrected. He is given a vision of Christ, and Jesus gives John a message in chapters 2 & 3 for 7 churches in Asia Minor, the area we know today as Turkey. Jesus has words of encouragement and words of rebuke for these churches. And we want to look at these churches to see what message God might have for us as well.
First we looked at the church of Ephesus. It was a CARELESS church. This was a large church, an active, working church, a well-taught church, a weathered church, they hard faced trials -- yet it was a church that faced a rebuke. We often look at large, active churches as healthy churches, but often they are not. Jesus told the church at Ephesus they had lost their passionate love for God. And we want to make sure that we are always more concerned about who we ARE, in our hearts, than just being concerned about what we DO.
Then, we looked at the church at Smyrna. It was a CRUSHED church and a CROWNED church. They faced pressure and poverty and putdowns, but they faithfully endured, and so they received commendation from the Lord. The Lord tells them that persecution will come, but to continue to live faithfully and He would reward them greatly. We want to be faithful, even when life gets difficult.
Then we looked at the church at Pergamum. It was a COMPROMISING church. It was a city where Satan had set up camp; but the church had tolerated Satan’s presence. We want to make sure that we do not compromise and tolerate evil.
Then we looked at the church at Thyatira. It was a CORRUPT church. The people had followed a self-proclaimed prophetess who taught them to deny the truth, and the people accepted the teaching. We learn the lesson that we cannot allow ourselves to follow any false teaching that would lead us to embrace sin, but rather we need to lead holy lives, in the world, but not of the world. Instead, we live as a witness to the world.
Then we looked at the church at Sardis. It was a CRIPPLED church. This was a church that looked good from the outside, in fact it had a good reputation, but Jesus saw them as they really were, dying and almost dead.
Then we looked at the church at Philadelphia. It was a COMMITTED church. Here was a church that was small and had only a little strength, but they were doing what they could to follow God.
Today we look at the church at Laodicea. It was a COMPLACENT church. It was a church that was content to life as they were. They didn’t feel a need for God’s help: they thought they were fine as they were.
Read 3:14-22 from the message - Pray
Today, to give us a different perspective, allow me to read this passage from a paraphrased version called “The Message.” Write to Laodicea, to the Angel of the church. God’s Yes, the Faithful and Accurate Witness, the First of God’s creation, says:
“I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You’re not cold, you’re not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You’re stale. You’re stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, ‘I’m rich, I’ve got it made, I need nothing from anyone,’ oblivious that in fact you’re a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless.
“Here’s what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that’s been through the refiner’s fire. Then you’ll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You’ve gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.
“The people I love, I call to account—prod and correct and guide so that they’ll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!
“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!
“Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.” PRAY
As John writes to these 7 churches, he lists them in the order a messenger would have traveled to deliver the letters. (Show map) Laodicea is located in the Lycus River Valley in southwest Turkey, in an area that was once the Roman territory of Phrygia. It was on the Roman mail route with the other 6 cities. At the end of a long route, about forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia, lay the city of Laodicea. And John sends this church the message from Jesus Christ.
What does God think of the church? To each of the seven churches, Jesus gives a distinct message. Jesus told the church in Ephesus that He knew their works, to the church in Smyrna that He knew their worries, and He tells the church in Pergamum that He knows their whereabouts, He knows where they live. He told the church at Thyatira that He knows the woman in their midst. He knows her whoring. He told the church at Sardis that He knows their withering. He told the church at Philadelphia that He knows their weakness. But even though they were small, they were FAITHFUL! He told the church in Laodicea that He knew their wretchedness. They thought they had arrived spiritually; they had need of nothing. But Jesus sees them as destitute, so spiritually bankrupt that they should be pitied.
Far too many Christians are like that today. They are like rivers. Rivers are crooked because the natural tendency of a river is to take the easiest way around any obstacle. So rivers are always crooked, and they always run downhill. Some people are like rivers. They are always wanting things in life by the easiest means possible and they are usually lazy and too immature to put forth much effort into walking with God. For them it’s easier to watch tv than to pray and easier to read their newspaper than their Bible. It is easier to sit through a ballgame that last three hours and goes into overtime than it is to sit through a one hour church service or Bible study. They want to come out for a 45 minute church service where all their problems are solved by hearing something that will make them feel good about themselves.
Do you recognize the word “placebo”? It is the term for a pill given to patients that does nothing for them. When doctors are running tests on the effectiveness of new medicines, they run scientific tests to see if the medicine really works. So they gather a batch of patients. Some are given the medicine, and some are given placebos, sugar pills that don’t do a thing. But the patient doesn’t know whether he is being given the real medicine or a sugar pill. But he thinks he is being given the real medicine. But the problem is that the sugar pill does nothing to help his sick condition.
Far too many Christians THINK they are OK, they are on track with being right with God. But they never realize how sick they are spiritually. That is the situation of the church at Laodicea. Look what Jesus says in verse 17 -
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They were sick, but they never knew it. Far too often we hear of people going in to the doctor for a checkup, feeling fine or maybe having a few issues, and the doctor says “You have a serious cancer - there’s nothing I can do for you - you only have a few weeks or months to live.” Now the doctor will say it much nicer, but the fact remains that often people find out after it is too late to do anything.
What they really need to hear are words of truth. They don’t need to hear someone who is going to tell them everything is OK; they need to hear someone who will tell them the truth. That is why as Jesus addresses this church he describes himself this way in verse 14: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. The word “amen” means “so be it” or “let it be done.” Jesus is the one who sees things through the lies and who determines what should be done. He is called the faithful and true witness: Jesus comes as the truth, and because He has the truth, He needs to be heard. He also presents Himself as the ruler of God’s creation. Because He is the ruler, He is to be obeyed. To a people who thought they were OK, Jesus comes as the truth and the one to be obeyed: He has a message that they need to hear.
We talked about looking in a mirror; but it can be easy to look in a mirror and think you look pretty good, when in fact you are balding, overweight, and out of shape. We often see ourselves through skewed eyes. In verse 17, we see how the Laodiceans saw themselves. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ Why would a Laodicean say that?
Laodicea was founded couple hundred years before Christ, kind of as a little outpost to guard a crossroad of two major trade routes, so that trade could get through. Under the Roman peace, they flourished into a major financial centre, almost the Wall Street of their day. They had a major banking center and gold exchange there, like Swiss banks today.
They also had a garment industry, which was focused on black woollen garments. The thing the city did not have was a good water supply. The water there was warm and brackish. It was loaded with minerals, and so clothes washed in the water never got truly white. So black garments were fashionable.
They also had a booming medical industry which involved eye powders, or salve, which was to help improve vision. Therefore, between the medical establishment, the fashion industry and the financial industry, these people were rolling in money.
The region was prone to earthquakes and in 17 AD the city faced major damage by a quake. Rome sent money to help rebuild the city. In AD 60 Laodicea was again flattened; it was levelled by catastrophic earthquake. But this time they declined the Emperor’s money. They rebuilt their own city with their own money and they were still had money left over. The city had attained financial prosperity.
So the city of Laodicea was proud and self-sufficient. And the church had the same attitudes. They felt they had everything they needed spiritually. They just wanted to hear messages that made them feel good; they didn’t want to hear the truth of their sinful condition. Many times we like to tell people that God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. And I believe that is true. But we can never fail to leave out the part that we are sinners isolated from relationship with a holy God and we cannot save ourselves. We are damned to hell because of our sin, and only the mercy of an almighty God can save us.
In Deuteronomy 6, as Moses leads the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, he gives this warning: When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you--a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant--then when you eat and are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He knew that the temptation for them would be to think that they had brought about this blessing by themselves.
Many Christians think that God owes them a blessing. We think of God as someone who is there to meet our every need, like a genie in a lamp. And sometimes we find it easy to forget how desperately we need our God.
What does Jesus say to this church who thought they had it all? he says in verse 17, But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. The problem was that they don’t know their condition. Jesus said to the Pharisees in John 9, If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. The problem with the church at Laodicea was that they didn’t see their need of God. If they had seen their poor condition and were working to change, God would have given them encouragement. But instead, they don’t even see how wretched they are. And the same truth applies to us here in Owosso in 2010. We often don’t see how poor our spiritual condition is.
We need to understand—these weren’t “bad” people. They weren’t engaged in emperor worship. They weren’t out partying at pagan festivals or having sex with the temple prostitutes. They weren’t drunks and gluttons. These were nice, well-mannered folks with Midwestern-values. They were “good” people that probably never bothered a soul. But just like American Christianity today, they had been lulled into a false sense of security and had embraced a generic brand of Christianity that taught them to pat themselves on the back for going church because they had done their good deed for the week. Maybe they believed that God was lucky to have them and their big tithe check every week.
Satan doesn’t need to convince Christians to go out and party and live immoral lives. He wants you to keep your old fashioned values and keep on going to church every week, just as long as you never realize just how “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” you really are—because that is when you realize your need for a Savior, that’s when your eyes will be opened and you’ll see just how amazing his grace really is! It is not until we discover the wretch within ourselves that we discover the amazing love of our Savior.
The problem with the church at Laodicea was NOT that the world had infiltrated the church. The problem is that the church had never infiltrated it’s world. They had never made a difference in their community. They were content having a Christianity that was convenient. In fact, when you go to the ruins of the city of Laodicea, you will find the ruins of an early synagogue (show pix) right in the Agora, the marketplace of the city. It had become socially accepted by society.
Far too many Christians want to be politically correct - we don’t want to speak out against anything. We want to be loving and kind, and we should be, but we also need to speak the truth in love. God loves sinners, but He hates their sin. So should we. We need to speak out to be a voice of warning to those who are dying in their sin. But often we say, It’s their choice; I leave religion and politics out of my discussions; that’s such a personal matter.
We who have the truth, who know what God wants, need to be a voice for truth. We need to look in the mirror and ask the question, God, who do you want me to be? What do you want me to do?
Jesus says he saw their works, and they were not hot nor cold, they were lukewarm. About 7 miles north of the city of Laodicea was the city of Hieropolis, where there were wonderful hot springs. In fact, an aqueduct carried these waters to the city. They were healing waters. About 12 miles to the east of Laodicea was the city of Colosse, where refreshing icy cold waters came down from Mount Cadmus. Cold refreshing water. Jesus says I wish you were hot or cold, like the healing waters of Hieropolis or the refreshing waters of Colosse. But instead, the city of Laodicea had tepid, brackish water that made one sick to drink.
Ronda’s brother Rick lived in Toledo, OH for a few years. The water there tastes like sulphur. It’s disgusting to drink. Everyone drinks purified water. In the same way, at Laodicea, the minerals in the lukewarm water made it disgusting. You wanted to vomit if you drank the water. Jesus says to the church, your indifference to spiritual things makes me want to vomit.
He says, Do you want to really be rich, don’t trust in the towns gold reserves, but come to me for spiritual gold. When Paul writes to the church at Corinth, in chapter 3 he says, If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. One day we will stand before God, and we will give account for how we lived our life. Only the things done for Christ will have eternal value.
In this materialistic city, it would be easy for the Christians to focus on getting things for themselves. And that is one of the curses of living in America. With all the material blessings we enjoy, we sometimes lose focus that the riches of following Christ are greater than the material prosperity that Satan offers. Satan took Jesus up to the top of a high mountain and offered him all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would worship Satan. And Satan still tempts Christians in the same way today. Our perspective should be that of Moses: Hebrews 11 tells us, He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. Don’t let Satan trap you through focusing on all the material things this world has to offer.
Jesus tells the church, Don’t focus on the Laodicean garment industry, clothe yourselves in the white raiment I can provide, the righteousness of the saints. He says, If you want medicine for your eyes, don’t buy your local eye salve, instead come to me and I will help you see.
The good news is—no matter how disgusted Jesus is by this self-centered, self-deceptive brand of Christianity, he still loved them. He assured the church in Laodicea, Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. The reason that God brought such a stern message to Laodicea is that it tells us that God believes that Laodicea can be redeemed. That’s the Good News of Laodicea. God has enough hope for Laodicea that He tells them what they need to do to change.
If they will listen when Jesus comes to them, and open the door, Jesus will change their lives. And today, if we will listen as God speaks to us, and if we will be obedient in changing the things the Holy Spirit points out to us that need to change in our lives, then we also can be overcomers, those who have overcome the obstacles and pitfalls that Satan puts in our path.
Today, pick up a mirror, and look at yourself. What do you see? Look beyond the surface , and try to look as God would look at you. Does God see a heart that cares about Him? Does God see someone who is trying to honestly and sincerely follow the truth? Or does God see someone who is complacent, apathetic, and who is just trying to get by, someone who sees himself as OK?
Today, as God helps you to see yourself, listen, obey Him, and change whatever you see in your life that is not pleasing to Him. Let’s pray.
