The Lukewarm Church Of Laodecia

November 17 Sermon - The Churches of Revelation - Laodicea

So we have come to the end of our look at the churches of Revelation, today being the last day.

And it’s been a fascinating journey to see some of the challenges that the early church faced, and how Jesus directly, through this Revelation in the Book of Revelation, called the churches to a higher place.

The issue in the church in Laodicea, as we’ll see, is passion or a lack of passion for God.

It’s also about the way that those who were wealthy among them were impacted negatively by their own wealth.

Let’s start at verse 14 of chapter 3:

To the Church in Laodicea

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.

Laodicea was one of the first Christian churches. But it also has the grim distinction of being the only Church of which the Risen Christ has nothing good to say.

The city of Laodicea had certain characteristics which have left their mark on the letter written to it.

First, it was a great banking and financial centre. It was one of the wealthiest cities in the world. How wealthy?

In A.D. 61 it was devastated by an earthquake;

but its citizens were so wealthy and independant that they refused any help from the Roman government and out of their own resources rebuilt their city.

The church of Laodicea was filled with people for whom this wealth was normal.

So it’s perhaps not surprising that Laodicea could boast that it was rich and had amassed wealth and had need of nothing.

It was so wealthy that it thought it did not even need God. That attitude of the city, the culture around it, was infecting the church.

It was a great centre of clothing manufacture. The sheep which grazed round Laodicea were famous for their soft, violet-black, glossy wool.

It mass-produced cheap outer garments.

Laodicea was proud of the clothing (garments) it produced.

The church of Laodicea was filled with people for whom this was normal.

Laodicea was so proud of the garments it produced that it never realized it was naked in the sight of God.

It was a very considerable centre of medical knowledge. Thirteen miles to the west, between Laodicea and the Gate of Phrygia, stood the temple of the Carian god Men.

In particular the temple was the centre of a medical school which was transferred to Laodicea itself.

This medical school was famous for two things throughout the world, ointment for the ear and ointment for the eyes.

Laodicea was so conscious of its medical skill in the care of the eyes that it never realized that it was spiritually blind. The church was part of this culture.

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

This is the way that Jesus describes Himself as he speaks to the church of Laodicea.

Jesus is the Amen, the last word. He is also the First Word (“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God”).

He is the Word, period. The spoken truth of all that God is, Who became flesh and dwelt among us.

He is the witness that is faithful and true in everything He says and does. Every other witness has an incomplete picture. A witness’ testimony can be accurate, but only from their perspective.

Have you ever wondered why there are 4 gospels in the beginning of the New Testament? Why not only 1? Because normally, one witness is not enough.

2 Cor 13:1 "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."

So we have 4, count ‘em 4 gospels, all of which tell the exact same story from different perspectives.

From that emerges the gospel, the truth of what Jesus did and said when He was here.

So Jesus is the faithful and true witness. AND, the ruler of God’s creation.

The One Who created everything out of nothing. The One who brought order out of chaos, and Who rules over all.

Consider for a moment the sheer power of creation, the energy that created the universe.

Consider that monumental task of bringing all things into being when there was nothing. Let’s have a look.

Creation Video HD: https://vimeo.com/290190430

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.

So the One Who speaks to the churches is the ruler of creation, the Creator of heaven and earth. And the Creator of you.

God ruled over your creation - your conception, healthy birth; your childhood.

Think for a moment of God sovereignly ruling over your life - from teenage, in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s to now;