To the Church of Laodicea
Last week we studied the Church of Philadelphia, an almost perfect church. Today we will look at the last church of the seven churches of the Book of Revelation and the most despised of the seven churches. Today we are looking at the lukewarm church of Laodicea. We will compare ourselves and our Church to this self-deceived Church.
Let’s stand as we read God’s Holy Word:
Rev 3:14-22
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
16 So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
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.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame 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."
(NIV)
(Prayer)
The City:
Laodicea was the wealthiest of the seven Churches. It was known for its banking industry, manufacture of black wool, and a medical school that produced eye salve called "Phrygian power." The city was so wealthy that when an earthquake destroyed it in 17 A.D., it refused imperial aid for rebuilding and did it entirely on its own.
The Commendation:
Christ did not find anything on which to commend this Church.
The Introduction:
Rev 3:
14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
Christ was giving witness to the Church that He did have the authority to judge their works. Jesus spoke this world into existence and rules His creation. Being a faithful and true witness from the very beginning of His creation until now, gives Him the authority to rebuke and discipline the people that He loves.
The Condemnation:
Rev 3:
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!
16 So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
Christ saw a church that had become like so many churches today. He saw a church that was not productive. Sure they attended services each week, but they did nothing to further the Gospel of Christ. They were content to just sit back and watch the world turn as they enjoyed their luxuries. The people of Laodicea had even built an aqueduct to bring water from hot springs into the city. By the time the water had reached the city, it was no longer hot, nor was it refreshingly cold. It had become lukewarm. Have you ever drank lukewarm water? If you have, then you know you feel like spitting it out of your mouth. This is how Christ felt about the Laodicea Church.
Rev 3:
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.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
These Christians thought by being wealthy, that they needed nothing. When you process all the worldly items that you desire, then you become self-sufficient and have a false feeling of security. You don’t care what is happening in the world around you. You have this false feeling of security, where nothing can hurt you and there is nothing that you need that you cannot provide for yourself. Most people like these are over achievers. The more wealth they have the more that they want.
Paul warned us about this. Let’s read:
1 Tim 6:
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
(NIV)
When the love of money supersedes our love for God, we become spiritually wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. We may go through the motions of worshipping God, but we are really worshipping our processions. Our money and processions becomes our god. The first of the Commandments tells us: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."
God doesn’t intend for us to be poor, but He does expect and deserves to be first in our lives. We are to buy our gold from Christ. This refined gold that we purchase from Christ is our salvation. What can be more valuable than that? It is worth more than all the gold in the world, but it is a free gift from God. All we have to do is to purchase it through Jesus Christ by accepting Him as our Savior and Lord. The only cost is our repentance of our sins. With this gift of salvation, we become rich in the Kingdom of Heaven. We are given new clothes bleached white by the blood of Christ to cover all of our sins. We are then given the Holy Spirit to open our eyes so that we can see the path of righteousness. What a wonderful God we have that loves us so much that He would even give His only Son to suffer and die on the cross for us. Jesus was willing to do this because He also loves us. How can we not be hot or on fire for Christ, when He cares for us so very much. Every Christian Church in the world should be hot for God.
Rev 3:
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.
I have a daughter that once told me that God does not punish His people. I told her that I punished her as she was growing up because I loved her and wanted her to learn the difference between right and wrong. God, our father, also loves us and He wants us to learn what is right and to reframe from sin. If we are disobedient, God loves us enough to discipline us. I have told you many times that I am a God fearing man and that I believe every word in the Bible to be the true word of God. I feared my Dad when I was disobedient. In the same way I fear God when I have unrepented sin in my life. If we are sinning, God loves us so much that He wants to get our attention and to remind us that we need to repent. Sometimes a little tap in our lives will do it or other times God may need to broad side us with a club. If we are sinning or if we are not following His will for our lives, God will get our attention.
Rev 3:
20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.
Christ is standing at the door of your heart and knocking. He is asking to come into your life. He wants to have an everlasting fellowship with you. All you have to do is to open the door and let Him come into your life as your Savior and Lord. It is just that easy. In doing so He will give you enormous treasures in heaven. He will give you a crown of life that all the money in the world can’t buy but it yours for the asking.
Jesus knows what we have to contend with in this world. He lived here and was tempted just as we are. But He overcame all temptation and lived a perfect sinless life. Because He did we can be cleansed from our sins by His shed blood. We too can overcome the world. All we need to do is to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He was born here on earth so that He could become a perfect sin offering for us. Believe that He was unjustly crucified on the Cross. And believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead on the third day and He lives and sits on the throne at the right hand of God. If you do this Jesus will give you the right to sit with Him on the throne.
Rev 3: 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
Christ is warning us to listen to what He has told the seven Churches. Which church do you most resemble?
The Church of Ephesus, who had left their first love.
The Church of Smyrna, who endured suffering, but remained faithful to the end.
The Church of Pergamos, who had allowed false doctrine to enter their beliefs.
The Church of Thyatira, who had allowed sexual immorality into their lives.
The Church of Sardis, who appears to be alive, but was actually spiritually dead.
The Church of Philadelphia, though they were small, witnessed continually for Christ.
The Church of Laodicea, who was lukewarm and despised by Christ.
I think a lot of our Churches today resemble the Church of Laodicea. As a Nation that is considered one of or the wealthiest nations in the world, we have closed our eyes to what is happening in our once Christian nation. As each year passes we are falling deeper and deeper into sin. We murder over 4000 unborn babies every day. We have taken prayer and the Ten Commandments out of all public establishments. Pornography has taken over movie theaters, TV and the Internet. The homosexual lifestyle is now being taught to our school children as an acceptable way of life. Now our scientists want to play God and create (clone) life. When will we as Christians open our eyes and take a stand for Christ and say enough is enough. Are we already like the Church of Laodicea and are content with all that we process and care less what is happening to our once Christian Nation?
Today we need to recommit our lives to Christ. We need to come forward to the altar and tell Christ that we repent from our sin of apathy and not caring. We need to recommit our lives to the works of Christ. Commit today that our Church will be like the Church of Philadelphia and that we will serve Christ and our Church in any way that is needed. Will you make that commitment today?
If you are here today and haven’t accepted Christ as your Savior, now is the time to do it. You aren’t here today by chance. The Holy Spirit has led you here so that you too can have all the riches of Heaven. Come now and accept Jesus Christ as you Savior and Lord. You will be changed for the better. You will regret not doing it sooner. Your life in Christ will give you a peace and happiness that you have never experience before. Will you come to the altar and let someone pray with you?
Come now!
