The Revelation to Laodicea
Have you ever been sea sick – you know, just continually wreaching – not for the skys, but yeh, I won’t go into it any more. At least you have to look on the bright side - you are the fish’s best friend. No it is not very fun at all being sick. Not fun at all. And to make matters worse, sometimes people just don’t believe you.
Did you hear about the inscription on the tombstone of a hypochondriac? It read, "Now will you believe that I’m sick?"
How are you feeling today? Fine. That’s great – I’m glad. Probably the more important question I want to ask is how is Christ feeling today? You say – fine. And I ask how do you know. You say – He’s God and he’s in heaven where there is no illness. I say Yes – But … Don’t you love that answer – Yes – But… Yes he is God, but he can feel sick.
What you don’t believe me that an all powerful God can be sick? Well if you were listening to our bible reading earlier you would have heard these words read – “Because you are neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth”. This translation does not really capture the full thrust of the passage (excuse the pun – it was fully intended). The word for spit here actually means to vomit. Christ is feeling so sick that he wants to throw up. I like the way the Message puts it – it 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.” Gross isn’t it – but here is an instant where Christ felt ill to the bottom of his stomach.
The question that remains is what was it that made him feel sick? What if I told you that it was a bunch of Christians that made him feel this way? Have I caught your attention yet. What if I told you they were a bunch of Christians who resembled us in this building more than you or I would ever care to imagine? Have I got your interest now?
Well we are onto the last of the letters to the churches in Revelation and this is a letter to a church which disgusted Christ. Let’s pause and pray that God might show to us to us the wonders of his word.
Lord, this morning as we look at the last of your letters to the churches, we ask that you would speak directly into our hearts and minds. Make us mindful of the fact that these words are meant for us and that we are to heed the warnings contained within. Help us to be honest with ourselves and you this morning Lord. Amen.
If you have your bibles there, please open them to Rev 3:14. Please keep them open for the duration of this morning as I’ll constantly be referring back to the passage so keep checking that I’ve got it right - otherwise I could be telling you absolutely any tall story this morning and you wouldn’t have the foggiest.
We’ve already read the passage once, but seeing its so short, lets read it again.
Rev 3:14-22
As for all the other churches we’ve studied over the past months, I want to look at 4 things this letter under 5 headings.
1) Picture of the city
2) Picture of Christ, the author
3) Picture of the Problem
4) Picture of the Solution
5) Picture of the Promise
So let’s start with a bit of background on Laodicea.
1) A Picture of Laodicea
Laodicea was about forty-five miles southeast of Philadelphia and about one hundred miles due east of Ephesus. It was in a fertile valley along with Colosse and Hierapolis. And the great Roman road stretching to the inland of Asia from the coast at Ephesus ran straight through its center. This made Laodicea an important center of trade and communication.
Laodicea was actually known for 3 things.
1) it was known firstly for its wealth. It was the financial and banking center of the whole region and had money to burn. So wealthy was Laodicea that after the great earthquake of A.D. 17, which destroyed it, the people refused imperial help in rebuilding the city, choosing rather to do it entirely by themselves. It would be like one of our cities refusing government aid after a natural disaster and replacing all the buildings and infrastructure itself. It was rich and had no need of any help.
2) much of its wealth came from the production of a fine quality of famous glossy black wool which would be exported throughout the known world.
3) It was also famous for its school of medicine and particularly for a special ointment known as "Phrygian powder." This was famous for its ability to cure of eye defects
But for all its fame, Laodicea was also known for something else. Its horrible water supply. Despite its wealth, it did not have a local water supply sufficient to provide for its population and so an aqueduct was built to bring water from hot springs 6 miles away. On its journey overland to Laodicea, it cooled until it was lukewarm when it arrived. Remember this because it takes on significance later.
2) A Picture of Christ
Let’s turn back to the letter and start our dissection of it. As with the other letters, Christ is the author. It was a direct revelation given to John and written down for us. Here in the introductory words Christ introduces himself with 3 word pictures..
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
He says of himself that he is 1) the Amen, 2) the faithful and true witness and 3) the ruler of God’s creation. In every letter so far, the introduction used is a key to the interpretation of the rest of the letter – so remember these things carefully.
1) Christ calls himself the "Amen." We are all familiar with this word. We enthusiastically utter it after grace or a long prayer and occasionally it is said when we want to express our agreement with a meaningful statement. But it is also a word that Jesus used frequently. In the more modern versions of the gospels, he begins many statements with the words, "Truly, truly, I say unto you." The King James Version renders it, "Verily, verily." Actually, in Greek, that is "Amen, Amen." It indicates that Jesus is saying something extremely important and always marks a significant truth. So when you come to this word in the Gospels, pay careful attention because Jesus himself is underscoring that what he is saying is not only true, but it is important truth. Here Christ is introducing himself then as the one who tells the truth.
2) Christ goes onto elaborate on this claim by claiming to be the faithful and true witness. He not only tells the truth, but he tells all the truth. He does not hide anything.
3) The third phrase is not, as the NIV version puts it, "the ruler of God’s creation." It is really the word "the beginning of God’s creation." It is the same word that the Gospel of John opens with: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," {John 1:1 NIV}. Two verses later John says, "All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made," {John 1:3 KJV}. Jesus is the origin, the beginning of God’s creation. All in this creation and the new creation came from his hands of Jesus and so it is not surprising that he would know what is best for us or what we need.
3) A Picture of the Problem
Sadly, Laodicea joins the ranks of Sardis as not having any commendations from Christ. He instead condemns them. And these words will equally apply to us if the cap fits. He clearly says…
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.
There were 2 problems in this church which affect many churches meeting this morning in this city, around Australia and right around the world.
1) Firstly, there was a problem with their commitment. This was a church that was lukewarm. Now in this instance, we might be tempted to think of a spectrum with hot as being spiritual and cold as being totally unspiritual. That is not a correct interpretation here. Can you imagine Christ saying, I’d prefer a person to be totally unspiritual, than sort of lukewarmish. No, this is not the right interpretation. The temperature image is not found anywhere in the bible, and we must be careful not to impose our analogies on the bible. The whole image of the cold, hot and lukewarm Christian here probably relates to the water supply of the Laodiceans that was lukewarm and almost undrinkable.
Think about it, how many of you love a hot cup of tea or coffee. How many of you like it when it is lukewarm or at room temperature? What a cold drink of coke. Would you prefer it cold or lukewarm? You see in the image of the water, hot water is useful and so is cold, but lukewarm – it just makes you GAG?
As humans we hate extremes. We’d prefer to be nice and comfortable, rather than hot or cold. But just as water is only useful if it is hot or cold, so to, in God’s economy, lukewarm comfortable Christians are useless and actually are nauseating to him. God requires people who are useful to him. People who have zeal, passion, purpose – not lazy, fat, spiritual slobs who grace the pews of so many of our churches.
But how do I know if this church is lukewarm. How do I know if I am lukewarm, you ask …
Do you have a heart for seeking God? If not, you’re LUKEWARM
Do you have a heart for communion with God in corporate prayer? If not, you’re LUKEWARM
Do you have a heart for a lost world? If not, you’re LUKEWARM
Do you give of yourself so that others can see Jesus in you? If not you’re LUKEWARM
Do you place knowing and doing the will of God before all things? If not you’re LUKEWARM
The Laodiceans had a problem with commitment, how is your commitment going today?
The conductor of the community orchestra was almost out of his mind. At every single rehearsal, there had been at least one member who had been missing. Planning for a well organised concert was almost impossible. At the last rehearsal, he called for attention and said, "I would like to thank the first violinist for being the only member of the orchestra to attend every rehearsal." The violinist smiled shyly and humbly said to the conductor, "Well, it seemed the least I could do since I won’t be at the concert tonight."
Are you making Jesus sick by your commitment today?
2) The second problem with the Laodicean church was that they were evaluating themselves by the world’s standards rather than God’s standards.
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.
In the world’s eyes they were doing fine. They were wealthy, self sufficient, comfortable, accepted. Remember how I spoke of Laodicea being a wealthy banking centre. The church was materially rich also. It is likely they had a lovely building with all the mod cons, a new drum set, a video projector, a great sound desk. But the church Christ desires isn’t meant to be a country club run for the benefit of its members. His church is to be salt – something that makes a difference in the world. Christ’s church is to be a light – shining in the world which is blinded to God’s purposes.
Instead of being spiritually rich, they were bankrupt in all aspects. Remember the three things that made this city famous – their wealth, their eye ointment and their fine cloth. Well Christ is saying to them that in actual fact, in his reckoning, they are poor, blind and naked and nothing they can do can change this. Interesting isn’t it how personal this letter was.
A United Press release in a midwestern city in America told of a hospital where officials discovered that the firefighting equipment had never been connected. For 35 years it had been relied upon for the safety of the patients in case of emergency. But it had never been attached to the city’s water main. The pipe that led from the building extended 4 feet underground and there it stopped! The medical staff and the patients had felt complete confidence in the system. They thought that if a blaze broke out, they could depend on a nearby hose to extinguish it. But theirs was a false security. Although the costly equipment with its polished valves and well-placed outlets was adequate for the building, it lacked the most important thing --WATER! Like the Laodiceans, we can trust in things which can not help us in times of emergency. What are you trusting in? Would Christ say of you that you are poor, blind and naked, just like the Laodiceans?
So we see the problem of the church – they lacked commitment and they were relying on their worldly possessions. We are often as guilty of these things as were the Laodiceans which is scary considering the violent reaction of Christ. So what is the solution to these problems.
4) A Picture of the Solution
Christ is a wonderfully gracious God. He always provides a way of escape from judgement and if we continue to read this letter, we will see it for ourselves in black and white.
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.
If we want to spiritually useful (hot or cold) and spiritually rich, we need to buy 3 things. I just love how Christ makes this so relevant to the situation at Laodicea – what are the 3 things we need – gold, clothes and ointment – lovely isn’t it they are exactly the three things most important to Laodicea. Note, however, that the Laodicean varieties are useless. We need the spiritual versions which are only available from Jesus. He is the only distributor of these commodities and so it doesn’t matter whether we are materially rich or poor, being persecuted or not, in Australia or anywhere else – we all need the same 3 things and we can all get them from God. So what are they and what do they stand for …
1) we need to buy Gold refined in the fire. These Christians had money and plenty of Gold, but their gold was no good. The gold they needed was to be refined by Christ’s fire. Peter interprets this image for us in 1 Pet 1:7. Speaking about persecutions, he says “These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” The Gold is faith which only Christ can give. Faith in his word, faith that in him all things are possible.
2) The white clothes is quite a contrast to their spiritual nakedness and the black cloth famous at Laodicea. White clothes always speaks of righteousness. We are all morally naked before God. We all have thing that we would like to hide, to cover up, but Christ sees them – he sees us in our naked sinfulness. But what does he offer us? He offers His righteousness. It is by his righteousness that are seen to be justified by God. Not our own self-righteousness.
3) Lastly we are to buy ointment for our eyes so that we can see. See spiritually how destitute we are. See the truth of Scripture. This illumination of truth is always through the Holy Spirit.
3 things we need faith, righteousness and spiritual sight. And they’re all available if only we ask.
How compassionate is our Lord, even though we may be Lukewarm, he provides a way of escape. He does rebuke us at times, but as he says, 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. He loves us and so disciplines us. He wants us to repent and turn back to him. The next image in vs 20 is a graphic one showing a God who is desiring his church to let him into their lives. He is standing at the door, knocking. Wanting to come into our lives. The context here is not for new Christians, though the image is certainly a good one for them also. The context here is for people who are already Christians, though lukewarm ones. Christ is pleading for them to open their heart’s door to him. To open their lives up to him fully so that he can come in and commune with them – literally dine in intimate fellowship with them.
Some of us when we accept Christ, we open the door and say "come on in the house, Jesus ... but stay in the living room. Don’t wander around." We give God permission to occupy parts of our life, but the rest is off limits. We say, "Jesus, you can have Sunday morning and maybe one night a week at a Home Group, but stay out of what I do in my free time... Jesus, I’ll give you my emotional troubles, but you can’t have my sexuality... Jesus, you can have some input on my career ... but don’t tell me what to do with the money I make from that career. Don’t start messing with my credit card."
Christ wants all of us and believe me, we don’t have to be worried about giving him everything because hw is the Amen and the faithful and true witness remember. Christ is willing to help us get back on track – to receive us back and forgive us, in fact he is desperate to do so. But this needs a genuine and unconditional commitment from us. Are you willing to do that this morning? Are you willing to make a stand and stop being lukewarm?
5) A Picture of the Promise
If you are, Christ has a special promise for you this morning. He says that “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”. We will share in Christ’s future reign in his kingdom. This is the highest honor that God could bestow on us and it is yours if you are faithful.
• Do you have a problem with commitment this morning? Or Are you focussing on your material security rather than your spiritual wealth in Christ?
• Do you need to grasp hold of the faith, righteousness and spiritual insight that God offers you today?
• Do you need to open your whole life upto God for him to control?
If you do – do something about it now. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
