During the first World War, just after the turn of the 20th century, Teddy Roosevelt thundered against what he called hyphenated Americans. He meant people who had divided loyalty. We use hyphenation to describe ethnicity. Roosevelt said, “America is not a polyglot boarding house. (A “polyglot” is something made up of several languages.) “America is not a polyglot boarding house. If you are an American and something else, you are not an American.” By the same token, one could say if you are a Christian and something else, you are not a Christian. There isn’t such a thing as 50% or 80% loyalty. A husband who is loyal to his wife 85% of the time is not a loyal husband.
Vance Havener, a preacher of a previous generation, used to distinguish between “noun” Christians and “adjective” Christians. The word Christian can be used as a noun and an adjective. He would say what we need today is Christian Christians. We need Christians to act like Christians. This is what the church at Laodicea needed. They needed loyal Christians to live like Christians.
The strongest words of rebuke are reserved for the complacent, lukewarm, apathetic Christians at Laodicea. Could one explanation for America being the world’s largest consumer of drugs, the world’s capital for murder, and the greatest debtor nation in history is that the rich American church is lukewarm in its commitment to Christ. The church at Laodicea challenges us to give our best to the Lord Jesus.
These seven churches give the marks of a church alive with its relationship with Jesus. John Stott helpfully gives one-word descriptions of what it means to be the church of Jesus Christ. The true church is characterized by love, suffering, truth, holiness, reality, outreach, and wholeheartedness. These seven letters show the church hard pressed by sin, error, and complacency from within and persecution from without. This final letter is a call for Christians to give their best to Jesus.
As he has in the other letters, John begins the letter with a description of Christ.
I. THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST (REVELATION 3:14)
(14) “Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation:
A. Consistency
Jesus is described as the “Amen.” It means truly. It is an adverb of assent. It affirms what is said or done is true or trustworthy. Jesus’ favorite formula for emphasis was to say in the KJV, “Verily, verily” or in modern translations, Truly, truly. Amen doesn’t mean “The end” when you conclude your prayer. It means you trust what you prayed is true and agreeable with God’s will. When you amen someone’s song or sermon, you are saying you agree that it is true and trustworthy.
In Revelation Jesus not only says Amen, He is the Amen. Jesus is the personification of the real God. God is not an abstract idea dreamed up by needy man. He is real and Jesus is the visible representation of God. This word is stressing Jesus’ reliability. This is in contrast to the church’s lack of faithfulness and consistency.
How valuable is consistency? Let me ask you some questions:
What will guard us against foolish extremes?
What characterizes those who are habitually successful in sports, sales, or some skill?
What single quality in a business builds respect deeper than any other?
What brings security in relationships?
What makes us choose a particular brand name over all others?
What’s needed most by parents in the home?
What draws you to the same restaurant time and again?
What do you want most from your mailman or the direct deposit of your paycheck?
What will add more weight to your witness for Christ than anything else?
The answer? Consistency. Someone said there ought to be added another Beatitude: “Blessed are those who fulfill their positions.”
One of the most beautiful qualities about Jesus is His consistency. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” When you need Him, He is always there. When you pray, you never catch Him in a bad mood. You’re never requested to call back at a more convenient time.
When you’ve been given an assignment, can people say, “Amen,” or do they hold their breath until the work is done?
This church is not giving its best to Jesus. John reminds the church that Jesus never fails to give His best for them. He is consistently faithful and true to them.
Jesus is trustworthy because Jesus and His words are true. This is the second description of His character.
B. Trustworthy
Jesus is “the faithful and true witness.” His words are true and dependable.
The media has an 11% approval rating according to one TV broadcaster this week which means no one trusts what they say. Mothers may question if their child brushed their teeth. Verbal promises are no longer enough when you make a purchase and some employers have employees take lie detector tests. We struggle with trust, but you can trust Jesus. We’ve bet the farm on Jesus that He will give us eternal life and a home in heaven. How irrational to pick anything over devotion to Jesus. He deserves wholehearted commitment.
C. Authority
Jesus is “the originator of God’s creation.” The CSB got the meaning of this correct. Some translations say Jesus is the “beginning of God’s creation.” The cults pervert this to mean Jesus was the first creation by God the Father. They are purposely being deceptive. The word means source or agent.
The self-reliant, “pull-myself-up-by-my-own-bootstraps” need to be confronted with the fact that they are created by a Creator. He made you with your gifts and opportunities. He is our Master, our God, and our King. Martin Luther said, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God.” What did he mean? When I think one thing and the Bible says something different, then the Bible is true, and I am wrong. I adjust my thinking and actions to the Word of God. When we don’t give our best to God, our Creator, He is no longer the authority over our life. We are.
We recognize the error and destruction of rejecting authority in other areas of life. What’s the condition of the home where the child rules the parents? Chaos. What’s the outcome where the employees tell the employer how to run his business? Bankruptcy. Poor service. What happens to a city that is controlled by looters and rioters? It burns and is dangerous. A lukewarm Christian is like a servant that obeys his master only when it’s convenient and acceptable.
Jesus Christ’s demand of Christians is greater than any despot who has ever lived. We have no rights before Him. He owns you. He deserves and demands your allegiance above your parents, children, and spouse. You have no right to choose your child over Jesus Christ. You have no right for a little time to yourself unless He OK’s it. You do not negotiate with Jesus. You submit. He is the Potter. You are the clay. The clay has no right to tell the Potter what to do.
The movie Lone Survivor is about the mission of a Seal team that went bad. They are discovered by an old man and two boys herding goats. There is a heated discussion which takes place over what to do with their captives. If they are released, they will be discovered and overwhelmed by a superior force. If they kill their captives, they can complete their mission and return home safely but they may go to prison. If they tie them up and leave them, they’ll probably be eaten by wolves. There is a strong back and forth argument about whether to kill or release the old man and the two boys. The man in charge decides. They are going to release the captives and get out of Dodge. Immediately, every Seal team member “Rogers” the decision and begins to act accordingly. That’s recognition and response to authority. This is where lukewarm Christians fail.
We long and pray for the day to see robust and virile men and women giving to Jesus Christ their thoughtful and their total commitment. If He is true, if He is the Son of God who died for the sins of men, and if Christmas Day, Good Friday and Easter Day are more than meaningless anniversaries, then nothing less than our wholehearted commitment to Jesus Christ will do. I must put him first in my private and public life, seeking his glory and obeying his will. As we will see in this letter, lukewarm compromise nauseates Him!
II. THE CONDEMNATION OF LUKEWARMNESS (REV. 3:15-16)
(15) I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. (16) So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
A. The condition (15)
The words are striking. “Cold” means icy cold. Hot means boiling hot. It is our word zest. Most commentators don’t think Jesus is saying to the church that He wishes they were completely indifferent to Him or fanatically wild in living for Him. Nothing is better to satisfy thirst on a hot day than icy cold water. Nothing is more soothing to relax sore muscles than a piping hot bath; but, room temperature water just isn’t the same for satisfying thirst or bathing.
Laodicea didn’t have a good water source for the city. To the north was Hieropolis. It was famous for its hot springs. People bathed in the hot springs for their health. To the south was Colossae. It was known for its cold, refreshing water that came from the mountains. Laodicea had to pipe in its water. By the time it got to the town, it had grown lukewarm and dirty. Before treating it, you would spit it out.
Jesus is talking about wholeheartedness not fanaticism. Fanaticism is the heart running away from the head. It doesn’t have sound reason for its responses. A Muslim terrorist who straps their body with a bomb and hundreds of ball bearings in order to do maximum damage in killing and maiming people is a fanatic. In contrast, missionaries who leave home and country to go to some of the most difficult places on earth to bring hope and eternal life to lost people are expressing wholeheartedness. There is a biblical rational for this kind of behavior.
Please understand when I speak of a lack of wholeheartedness, I’m not saying what is needed on your part is more work. I’m not saying try harder. It may mean you work less. Look at the word WHOLEheart. Lukewarm Christianity reveals a heart that is being pulled in many different directions. Christ is calling these Christians to come back to having one Lord and one God in their life. Would it not be a release if you only had to please one Person? Imagine how it would simplify life if you only had one God. That’s the meaning to the picture of cold and hot and lukewarm. They give their best to God because they are wholehearted.
Our musicians frequently remind us to be wholehearted in our devotion to Jesus. A chorus we sing in the church says:
Jesus at the center of it all, Jesus at the center of it all, From beginning to the end, It will always be, it's always been You, Jesus
[Chorus 1]
Nothing else matters, nothing in this world will do, Jesus, You're the center, and everything revolves around You, Jesus, You, the center of it all.
I’d recommend you listen to this song on your electronic device in the morning as you get ready for the day. Maybe you’re a hymn person. You have dozens and dozens to pick from. How about:
Have thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the potter, I am the clay! Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, yielded and still.
The condition was a lukewarm heart. Is that really serious considering all the heavy issues of our day?
B. Condemnation (v. 16)
So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.
In the strongest terms possible, Jesus pictures His repudiation of the Laodiceans lukewarmness. What behavior makes you sick to your stomach? Would you have ever named compromised Christianity? Jesus must see something about this kind of behavior I don’t see to have such a strong reaction.
One pastor told this:
“I could tell you a case of a man back home, forty-five years old – a pagan, illiterate, who knew nothing about Christ. Then he was brought by grace, through the preaching of the Christians, into the presence of Jesus and Him crucified; and that man was so changed that within a month, when impure thoughts came into his heart he literally went outside from a meeting and vomited. What a standard, what sensitivity! A man steeped in paganism, with no Bible training, no background. And now in the light of Calvary, in that smashing, invading love, this man is taken, re-created, renewed, his conscience is so clean that when impure thoughts came, he even went and physically vomited. A sensitivity had been created. The Holy Spirit had renewed the personality. Is this your case?
I find after I have gone on with the Lord, sometimes I grow insensitive. But the impact of the Holy Spirit, the impact of the renewal, is that you begin to move with that sensitive tact in the heart. If it is jealousy, don’t you think the time has come when you can say, ‘My heart has been renewed, and I am going to write a letter to that person and ask for forgiveness’? Yes, the posts of England may be very busy when God begins to work. And the homes of your country may experience men renewed, coming to put a few things right. That’s when Jesus comes alive: not when we enjoy lovely teaching, but when the teaching becomes so embarrassing that you walk away and do something about it.”
Thank you for being here. I’m grateful for your attendance. But what are you going to do with this teaching of Jesus? Walk out of this room and do something about the lukewarmness in your heart. Jesus Christ deserves your best. He deserves a wholehearted commitment to Him.
III. THE CAUSE OF LUKEWARMNESS (REV. 3:17-18)
(17) For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. (18) I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.
A. Self-satisfied
They were self-satisfied. They felt no need for Jesus.
Laodicea was known for its banking industry. The banks were full because it had a very lucrative garment industry built around its famous black wool. There were two medical schools. One was known for an eye salve and the other was famous for an ear salve. The city was so rich that they refused Rome’s offer of money to help them rebuild after the earthquake in 60 A.D. Can you imagine NYC or Los Angeles refusing disaster relief funds from the Federal government for the covid19 pandemic expenses? This tells you how the money flowed through this town. The church was a part of that great wealth.
The true condition of the church is miserable rather than powerful. That’s the idea of wretched and pitiful.
The other three words reflect the context of Laodicea. They think their accumulated possessions have made them rich, but they are actually poverty-stricken because they have purchased the wrong things. Their pursuits in life reveal they are blind to what is worth living your life for. Nakedness was a symbol of judgment in the Bible. When men were crucified, they were naked. This was a part of the shaming. There is some suggestion that the Romans made exception for the Jews to have a loin cloth.
They must acknowledge their poverty and seek Jesus’ true wealth. They need the Holy Spirit to anoint their eyes to help them see their foolishness and then seek to clothe themselves with the white robes of righteousness provided by Jesus Christ.
“I just had to try. . . . If we don’t try, we don’t do. And if we don’t do, why are we here on this earth?”
In the classic Civil War drama Shenandoah (1965), Mr. Anderson (Jimmy Stewart) asks this question following a failed attempt to rescue his son, who was taken prisoner by the Union Army after being mistaken as a Confederate soldier. When he returns home from the effort, he takes count of his losses: half his children are now dead as a result of the rescue effort. If you’ve seen the movie, you know this is exactly the issue he was trying to avoid. It’s why he wouldn’t let any of his sons enlist in the war.
By the last scene, Mr. Anderson and the audience come to understand the helpless state in which humans flounder. If we’re to find a bulwark, a fortress in this life, we’ll have to look outside ourselves.
Protecting his children is Mr. Anderson’s sole mission in life. Before his wife’s death some 16 years earlier, Anderson apparently promised her as much. He also promised, at her request, to raise the children with faith—something he does only begrudgingly, as evidenced by the prayer he offers before dinner early in the film:
Lord, we cleared this land. We plowed it, sowed it, and harvested. We cook the harvest. It wouldn’t be here and we wouldn’t be eating it if we hadn’t done it all ourselves. We worked dog-bone hard for every crumb and morsel, but we thank you Lord just the same for the food we’re about to eat. Amen.
After coming home, what’s left of the family returns to the dinner table with a cloud of grief surrounding them. Mr. Anderson tries to pray his usual prayer: the one that stresses his own efforts and minimizes God’s, but he can’t make it through. He shakes his head and stumbles out of the house and down to his wife’s grave:
I don’t even know what to say to you any more, Martha. There’s not much I can tell you about this war. It’s like all wars, I guess. The undertakers are winning. And the politicians who talk about the glory of it. And the old men who talk about the need of it. And the soldiers, well, they just want to go home.
At the grave, Mr. Anderson realizes the futility of all human effort, not just his own. For all his striving, for all his work, and for all the work of the politicians and old men, all is still lost.
Standing at the graveside, Anderson says: “I wish. . . I wish I could just know what you’re thinking about it all, Martha. And maybe it wouldn’t seem so bad to me if I knew what you thought about it.”
Just then, the church bells ring. “You never give up, do you?” Anderson says.
He makes his way back up to the house, rounds up the family, and goes to the church that he’s reluctantly attended for the past 16 years. As he walks in, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” is being sung. Anderson sits as an embodiment of Luther’s words: Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
Anderson confided in himself, and he lost everything. He plowed the field, but there was no harvest. Yet there is hope in his eyes. Having experienced the “striving would be losing” reality of confiding in himself, he now believes the lyric that follows:
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.
As the song concludes, the long lost son—“Boy”—limps into the church. Tears well up in Anderson’s eyes. At this moment—at his weakest, at his most vulnerable, and when he’s finally not depending in his own strength—he experiences restoration. His wholeness is a gift from Lord Sabaoth, the God of Rest. With his arm around his son, Mr. Anderson sings the Doxology:
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heav’nly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The movie doesn’t go there but imagine the picture for the Andersons after the church service, back at the table for Sunday lunch. In lieu of his typical prayer, perhaps Anderson dusts off a copy of one of Martha’s books—one by Luther would seem appropriate after singing “A Mighty Fortress”—and he’d read to the family the following passage:
We cannot give God anything; for everything is already His, and all we have comes from Him. We can only give Him praise, thanks, and honor.
Then, he and his family would do just that.
Jesus is ready to renew any church if anyone there is willing to start admitting, “I am not rich, I have not prospered, and I need everything.” Most of all, I need to be wholehearted in my pursuit of Jesus.
Lastly, God wants and deserves our best. Jesus gives them the cure.
IV. THE CURE FOR LUKEWARMNESS (REV. 3:19-20)
(19) As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. (20) See! 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.
The emphasis of v. 18 is that only in Christ will they find what genuinely satisfies. They are told to buy specifically “from Me.” Only Christ can cover their sin and guilt. Only Christ can open blind eyes to the truth and enrich their lives. How do you buy refined gold and white clothes of righteousness and a healing salve? We find help in v. 19-20.
These verses are deserving of an entire message, but I must be brief. First, repentance.
A. Repentance (v. 19)
The tenses of the verbs are instructive. The tense for zealous describes continuous behavior. We are to continuously stoke the fires of motivation to live the Christian life. The verb tense for repent means once and for all. You make up your mind that once and for all you are going to turn away from that which is contrary to the will of God and go God’s way. When everyone was leaving Jesus toward the end of His ministry, He asked the disciples if they were going to leave also. Peter answered, “Where would we go? You are the only one with the words of life.” You sell out lock, stock, and barrel to Jesus.
Five of the seven churches find the solution to their problem in repentance. We will too.
Someone said, “Christ is never loved until sin is loathed.” How do you feel about your sin? Repentance leads to reformation. There is some action taken to remove this sin from your life. At some level, genuine repentance touches you in your emotions, your will, and your mind. You are ashamed of your sin, you want to get away from it, and it is no longer rationalized. When you fail, you don’t quit. You have decided for Christ. Your wholehearted commitment to Christ means that you will battle with this sin until your last day on this earth. He deserves your best.
B. Faith (v. 20)
We yield to Christ. At first, we host Christ. He dines with us. Then, it transitions, and He becomes the host of the house, and we eat with Him. He is the Lord of the house.
Though these words are addressed to the church, they have an individual, personal appeal too—“If anyone.” The knocking on the door is in a verb tense that means continuous. He knocked on that door for your salvation, but He keeps knocking on that door to lead you to purity of life. Yield to Christ. Obey His will and commands. He will take greater possession of your life.
CONCLUSION
A legend taught that the apostle John lost the first writing of the book of Revelation. Remember this is a made-up story. The account was kept alive by word of mouth. In the first version, there were five horsemen not four. The fifth horsemen lead the other four: War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death. The lead rider became sick over the deeds of his fellow riders. So he rode far ahead of them. He would enter every village and city with a great cry and terrifying predictions. To the rulers of each place, he warned of those who were coming behind him. As proof, he showed them the blood on his horse’s hoofs. Then, he would race off to the next place with his urgent message.
Behind him, the citizens would fall into profound arguments. Some called the rider a liar. They said the blood was from goats and not men. Others considered him insane…and a few claimed he had not passed that way at all, that they were imagining things. Theological, philosophical, and political debates abounded. In the end, no one said, “A prophet has been among us.” His warning did not prevail. Ultimately, the four horsemen did arrive and slew their three times tens of thousands.
Meanwhile, the legendary fifth rider came to the outermost reach of the earth and turned about, satisfied with his work. As he revisited one city after another—all now destroyed and desolate—he realized that nothing he had said had made one bit of difference. Unrepentant, arrogant, indifferent, and disobedient, they had refused to act upon the truth they had been told. The legend concludes with the fifth horseman rejoining his companions. Together, they slew all mankind and destroyed their cities.
What was the identity of the rider who led the others? The name of the horseman who warned, according to the legend, was Reality.
I wonder if we should see something more happening than the world being humbled by a virus, a nation that has lawlessness just below the surface, and a political system that hates its challenger more than it wants to help its citizens. From my view, I’ve never seen a time when the church needs to repent and submit to Jesus more than it does today. God wants and deserves our best.
1. A book from Charles Swindoll.
2. John R. W. Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church (Grand Rapids, 1958), pages 116-117.
3. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ray-ortlund/when-the-spirit-makes-us-throw-up/
4. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/classic-movie-martin-luther-love/
5. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ray-ortlund/laodicea/
