"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:We welcome you to worship in the name of the Lord. We're glad to have you here We are especially grateful for those of you who have been continuing to share the ministry website with all of your family and friends. Your faithfulness to share God's Word with others continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to God's Word! I want to let all of you know that we are thankful your prayers. Prayer is powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And
through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith in Jesus Christ.
Praise God! May He continue to use you and this ministry mightily
to effect change in even more lives. All for His glory!
This is a rather long letter, as we noted before, t hey are on somewhat of a descending scale, Laodicea being the worst, so we must look at this letter very carefully. And although it runs through verse 22, I am not certain just how far we will get today. We'll leave that up to the Holy Spirit. I believe that it is vital, that we do not miss anything that the Lord has to say.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read to you from verses 14 through 22, to set the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit is saying to each of us. Revelation 3:14-22. "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: In Scripture, amen is often used to affirm the truthfulness of a statement. It is a kind of verbal guarantee. The name "Amen" indicates that He is God's perfect and final revelation. He is God's reliable witness, who never swerves from the truth.
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
15 ‘I know your deeds, 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 will spit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, “I
am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do
not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and
naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also 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.’”
Far too many contemporary Christians want just enough religion to be comfortable with church matters, but not so committed that they offend the world. In other words, they want to live with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. They want just enough religion to feel good about their sin, but not enough to condemn them for it. So preacher serves up a sermon, which is neither hot nor cold, that avoids all conviction, all mention of sin, in order to affirm hearers, such as they are, carefully avoiding giving offense.
However, lukewarm means that we are not hot enough to be used by God. There is no danger that the message delivered by a lackadaisical preacher to a lukewarm congregation will offend sinners, because sinners will never hear what the Lord intends to be said. It is the Spirit of God, not the preacher, Who convicts the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgement!
Not only is Jesus the truth, but everything He speaks is faithful and true. Therefore, we need to be aware that everything that He says will happen, because He is the ruler and authority over all creation. I pray that in our study of these seven letters, we have noticed that He knows the works of everyone. Many Christians today, seem to hold the opinion that if they are experiencing no hardships and if they weren’t upsetting anyone, then, they are surely engaged in doing God’s work in a pleasing manner. In our text today, I believe that we will learn, the reality it actually quite different, especially when we apply these views to our own situations.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word for us today. For this divine insight into the reality of the church life. We admit that we sometimes feel a little overwhelmed by it. Lord, we pray that You will keep us faithful, loyal, obedient, and loving, devoted to Your Word until You return. Help us Lord, that while we hate error, to love those that are trapped in it. Grant us the compassion of Christ to call them out of their condition, to help them see their poverty. Lord, we pray that those who hear this message, will be called to repentance, and that You will be gracious to forgive them. Use this message to reach people so that someone will open the door and let You in. May our persecutors bow to You as they hear the gospel, may they broken into repentance and faith in Christ. Lord, we thank You for the wonderful privilege of being made useful in this. May it all be for Your glory and for Christ's sake.
In His name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: Only Dead Fish Swim With The Steam
Open
with me your Bibles to the book of Revelation. As we return to our
study of the book of Revelation chapter 3, we come to the end of the chapter, verses 14 through 22, the letter to the church at Laodicea. You will remember, we have
been studying the seven letters to seven churches in Asia Minor.
They are churches that were established under the influence of the church at Ephesus.As the Word of God spread throughout Asia Minor, it spread along the postal route, from city to city. The result was that these seven churches were established.
These are seven real, historical churches that have been in existence around 30 years or so by the time the Lord has these letters sent to them. Of these seven churches, five of them we threatened with judgement, two ere not. Laodicea is the last church on the postal route and the final church that is mentioned here in these letters. To better understand the imagery we need to understand a little about the city of Laodicea. It was located in the Lycus River Valley in southwest Phrygia, the Lycus Valley was one of the most common routes of travel.
Laodicea was completely unsaved church, full of nonbelievers. It is the only church to which Christ says nothing good about anybody. It was a proud and unconverted church. Therefore, this is the most severe, rebuking, threatening letter of the seven.
Antiochus II named the city after His wife Laodice. It is interesting to me, that he named it for her and then divorced her, but the name stuck. Laodicea was known for its independence, having experienced a devastating earthquake in AD 17 but refusing any financial aid from Rome. It was located on a wealthy trade-route city with an abundance of bankers and merchants. The city of Hieropolis, located seven miles to the north, was known for its hot
springs. The city of Colosse, less than 10 miles to the south, was known
for its cold waters that were pure and drinkable. Both hot and cold water had use and value. Unfortunately, Laodicea, had neither.
When trying to pipe in the
hot waters from Hieropolis, the water was lukewarm after the seven mile
distance. The water was also dirty and impure once the water got to
Laodicea. Jesus, in His letter, is revealing the current useless state of these Christians who, like their water supply, were lukewarm and useless.
Lukewarm Christians tend to choose what is popular over what is right when
they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both in the church and the world. They do not really want to be saved from their sins, but rather only want to be saved from the penalty of their sins. They care more about what people think about their actions than what God thinks of their hearts. They do not want to be rejected by the world, nor do they want to make people uncomfortable by talking about the gospel.
In other words, they do not hate sin and they are not sorry for having committed sin. They are only sorry that God is going to punish them. They profess that they love Jesus, while refusing to submit in obedience to His Lordship. They do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. Tragically, they do not seem to realize that they are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked in the eyes of the Lord. Rarely, do they consider the life that is to come!
The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’"
A common mistake is made in thinking that what Jesus is saying that He would rather a person be fully devoted to God or not devoted at all to God rather than lukewarm. We must understand that there is no spiritual advantage before God in being a completely rebellious sinner. I believe that in many ways, the church today has fallen into the same state of uselessness as these Christians, who held a high opinion of themselves. Completely unaware of the terminal condition with which they were infected. We must realize that only in Christ can we have true riches.
As Christians, we often talk a lot about prayer, and whenever we hear that something bad has happened to someone we know, the first thing we say is we will pray for them. However, I often wonder if we go before the throne of a holy God, with the right heart and attitude. Far too many Christians go to God out of habit, rather than submissive dependence. Could it be that when we pray, all seems right, but upon closer inspection, we fail miserably to have any heart felt meaning behind those spoken words. Do we go to God, asking for His help, while trying to hide our own sin behind us? We focus our attention on the world, which by the way, is the same world that God commands us to turn away from, trying to hold onto our sin and we try to hide it from God.
In James 4, James tells us "You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
Let's begin with verse 14, "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:"
In each of these seven letters, the Lord introduces Himself with references to His deity. Here, we find that there are three things that are said about Him. "He is the Amen, He is the faithful and true Witness, He is the Beginning of the creation of God." "The Amen" is a unique title. I believe this is actually reflecting back to a Hebrew thought in Isaiah 65:16, which says "Because he who is blessed in the earth
Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth;
Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!"
In fact, II Corinthians 1 says "For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us."
He is "the faithful and true Witness," which further illuminates the Amen. He validates what God has said, what God has promised, is true. He is the perfect witness. Christ is the living validation and confirmation of every promise that God has ever made.
He is "the Beginning of the creation of God." He is the image of the invisible God. This, by the way, does not mean the first who was ever created, He is simply the premier One of all creation.
In Colossians 1, Paul tells us "For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him"
Laodicea, being a short distance from Colossae, was very likely plagued with the heresy that infiltrated Colossae. That's why in Colossians 4:16, Paul writes this: "Read this letter in the church of the Laodiceans. Read this letter in the church of the Laodiceans, and then read my letter from them in your church." Because here is a church that is unconverted and horribly lost. Very clearly, the Lord is offended by the heretical views of Him. From the very onset of this letter, His powerful Christological statement, demonstrates to us that the church at Laodicea had erred in their warped view of Christ. Allow me to remind you, that if you have a wrong view of Christ, it will certainly have horrendous spiritual effects!
In verses 15-16, the Lord says "‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."
The church of Laodicea was a spiritually sick church, and more often than not, such individuals don’t realise the extent of their spiritual illness. The Lord is simply saying, "You make Me sick." Churches that have a wrong view of Christ and therefore, are unconverted and unsaved, are obnoxious to heaven, they make the Lord sick. This is the worst representation of a church, because Christ isn't even in this church. There is nothing here to appeal to, they have no purpose. There's always hope for churches that some believers in them. That's why in some of the letters, the Lord calls believers to repentance. But in there church, there's nothing.
In verse 17, "Because you say, "I
am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do
not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and
naked."
Here, in this verse we find a huge contrast between the church at Laodicea's view of themselves and Jesus' view of them. The Lord is saying not only are you sickening hypocrites, you don't even realize your own true condition! You are deceived. That's the problem when unbelievers come together in a church, they're incapable of assessing their own spiritual condition. They can't see the reality of it. They simply continue to perform meaningless activities, going through the motions of a sterile liturgy, and keeping their members in a state of indifference.
They are obliviously unaware of how nauseating they are to the One they call Lord. This is the worst condition to be in. This is the ultimate apostate hypocrisy. In fact, this condition is much more difficult to change than to convert a non-believer! I believe this characterizes entire denominations across the world. This becomes evident when entire denominations have a wrong view of Christ, and begin attack the deity of Christ.
I have been to churches where the deity of Christ is attacked and people just sit there, they do not leave. But if you attack the issue of sin and sexual immorality, they immediately get up and leave! They're offended. Once you have denied what Scripture teaches, once you have denied the deity of Christ, you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and
naked. Lukewarm, tepid faith defines far too much of contemporary Christendom.
Pastors cannot afford to dip a toe into the spiritual waters to see if it is sufficiently tepid to conform to your lack spiritual enthusiasm. You imagine that you are to be envied, when the reality is you are to be pitied! Preach what the Word says! Far too many Christians seem to have forgotten Whose they are and Who they represent, simply going through the motions without making any investment. Where's the passion? Where's the fire?
While these churches may appear to be enthusiastic, sadly it is only for gaining followers for their own religions, and accumulating the tawdry treasures of this fallen world. They think they’re rich, but they are spiritually bankrupt! They are not the least bit enthusiastic about setting people free of their own enslavement to sin and darkness. They are not enthusiastic about seeing Christ exalted if it means them losing their own power.
In verses 18 through 20, the Lord's message to them is very direct. Allow me to read these verses before we break them down. "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
Here, our Lord offers grace to these hypocrites. You think you're rich, that you can buy anything you need. When what you really need comes from Me. Allow to put it bluntly, such self assertions dishonor God and discredit the ministry of the faithful.
In Matthew 16, Jesus said "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
We must see that we are wretched, naked, and pitiable. Only then will we
come to Jesus and purchase the spiritual wealth that we need to avoid
judgment. We must stop being concerned with our material wealth and start being concerned about our spiritual wealth. You need the gold that Christ offers, you need the healing that only Christ can give. His words, though gracious in encouraging the wayward church to turn
from their own deceitfulness, are yet weighted with a terrifying warning that
can only be described as breathtaking.
The Lord is telling us that we have been putting our efforts in all the wrong places, striving for the things of this world rather than striving for Christ and His kingdom. The Lord's message is clear, seek the things of God. Salvation is that gold which makes us spiritually rich in faith. It is the white robe that covers our sinful nakedness with the righteousness of God through Christ. Come to Me and buy, without price, without money, and without works.
In verse 19, the Lord makes a curious statement, one that has caused some people to think He’s talking to Christians. However, the context doesn't allow it. "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." This is an axiomatic statement about God and about Christ. As Christians we have every reason in the world to be on fire for Christ, and when we’re not, we had ought to be ashamed! Nothing clears your spiritual vision like confession and repentance.
We can get very defensive about messages and teachings that tell us we are
falling short of God’s holy standards. So, we often ignore difficult
teachings that "step on our spiritual toes." Christ speaks these hard words because He loves us, and so we need to hear these
things. He is saying that no matter how it might make us feel, or how uncomfortable it might be hearing His Words, because He is speaking the absolute truth of where we stand and why we are there. And, because He loves us, He will not sugar coat His truth. He exposes our sin, He reproves it, and when necessary, He even punishes it.
You know, I see so many churches today, and Christ is not there, He’s not in the church. I believe that Christ is calling on us to ignite our lives for Him, to be zealous for Him. He's telling us to devote ourselves to Him and love Him like we ought. I encourage you to rekindle your love and loyalty for Christ. We must be honest with ourselves, that we deserve the wrath and punishment of God. The message to the unsaved church is then, "Repent and do it fast."
In verse 20, comes the invitation, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."
This is one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible. Many people interpret this as meaning the door to your heart, because we've heard that expression our entire lives, however, that is not the picture here. This is an unconverted church, Christ is not in there. Here, He's talking about the door to the church. Christ is saying open the door of the church, and "if anyone hears My voice," meaning the assessment of the spiritual condition, which I have described, then I will come in to the church." All it takes, is one true Christian and Christ is in that church! Even if there is just one, He will enter that church.
"And will dine with him, and he with Me," this is a picture of fellowship. A shared meal is a symbol of fellowship. Jesus is saying "If someone will open the door, I’ll come in and I’ll save you, and I’ll have fellowship with you." Christ wants to have fellowship with you, but you have to decide to open the door and let Him in. He will not forcefully take over your life. He knocks and patiently waits to be invited in.
We come to a final promise in verse 21, "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." This is an unbelievable picture, because we do not deserve this No king would share his throne with his subjects, but here Christ says He will share the honor and rule with us. He is promising to give the repentant overcomer the honor of sitting with
Him on His throne. Jesus mentions that He sat down with His Father on
His throne. Jesus' present position is sitting at the right hand of the
throne of the Father in heaven. However, someday in the near future, Jesus will leave the
throne in heaven and occupy a throne on earth.
Verse 22, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
That's a message to the apostates, the liberals, the Christ-deniers, the Bible-deniers, who think they’re the elevated, who don't know their true spiritual condition. Are you listening? Jesus Christ, is in grace, offering you salvation, if you will devote your life to Him.
The problem with being abundantly blessed is the more you have, the more comfortable
you become. The more comfortable you are, the less you need.
The less you need, the less you focus on Jesus. No matter how wealthy we are, if we do not have Jesus, we nothing at all. Professing Christians need to see themselves through God’s eyes, this is especially true when the believer has slid into tepid faith, they need to realize that they cannot be pleasing to the Lord.
God warns us that He will confront His people, and the confrontation will
not be pleasant for those who turned away from Him, to pursue their own desires. How can we claim to honor the Lord when our focus on our own comfort, when we are more concerned with our own condition than we are with His glory? In doing so, we prostitute the faith and degrade the Bride of Christ into a tawdry trollop.The church of Christ must not be treated as a fraternal organization, a mere club to be joined for some social benefit. One who is lost is lost regardless of how religious or spiritual that person may claim to be. This is the problem with lukewarm Christianity. The wicked must not imagine that they can somehow exalt themselves against the Living God.
Perhaps the reason you continue to tinker around in the culture of death is because you have never known the Lord, never born from above and into the Family of God or maybe you profess Christ and have continued your disobedience masquerading as though you are a Christian, its not too late. When we look at all that we were redeemed from, we will find many reasons why we should live for Christ, the Risen Savior Who died for us.
The Word of God invites all, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus
is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and
with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says,
‘Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no
distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all,
bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For ‘everyone who calls on
the name of the Lord will be saved."
Then commit yourself to learn of Him through reading the Word, through
spending time in His presence in prayer and through participating in the life of
the assembly where the Spirit of God directs you.
Christ is summoning the church to cover her nakedness with garments of purity and sincerity washed white in the blood of the Lamb. I invite you today, to believe the promise of God and be saved. To all who will hear, our Lord, Jesus Christ gives you an invitation.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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