Revelation 3:14-22
The
Read text…
Rev. 3:14 “And to the
angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the
Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:
Rev. 3:15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could
wish you were cold or hot.
Rev. 3:16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I
will vomit you out of My mouth.
Rev. 3:17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need
of nothing’--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked--
Rev. 3:18 “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you
may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint
your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Rev. 3:19 “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous
and repent.
Rev. 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice
and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Rev. 3:21 “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne,
as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Rev. 3:22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
Pray
Intro
√ The sin of Laodicea
We began our study last week by looking at the Lord’s…
Greeting
Description
…to this church. We discovered that the sin of Laodicea was apathy.
Ap. Beware of apathy
It is perhaps the most potent weapon of the enemy for when it is wielded against the saints it…
Dulls the mind
Quenches the spirit
Chills our passion
…and accomplishes its work with us none the wiser that we were ever under attack.
In the end we become useless to God and no threat to the enemy.
√ Jesus response
In our study this morning we find the Lord’s response to their apathetic spirit…
His correction
His instruction
His promise
His invitation
…revealing His wondrous Grace in that we find the Lord extending hope and blessing to even this church if they will respond.
Commendation
√ Commendation
Like the church in Sardis Jesus finds nothing to praise them for.
Instead He moves right into...
…correction and warning
Correction & warning (vs. 15-17)
√ Two accusations against the church:
They were…
Lukewarm - in their relationship to Him
Materialistic -
they had replaced the Creator with the creation as the object of their hearts
affection
1) Lukewarm
Rev 3:15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.
√ Jesus is here describing three spiritual conditions...
Cold
Hot
Lukewarm
...and every person on the planet falls into one of those three categories.
Every person in this room falls into one of those three categories.
In the church of Laodicea the people were characterized by a lukewarm spiritual condition.
What does that mean?
Cold = is the life that is completely separate from Christ. The gospel leaves them totally unmoved and arouses no spiritual interest at all.
Describes most of us before the Holy Spirit got a hold of our heart.
Hot = “zestos” (boiling over); a life marked by complete dedication and love for Jesus. A life where everything and everyone takes 2nd place to Him.
Conversation
Time
Resources
When you meet a person who is zestos in their attitude toward Jesus there’s no question as to the presence of eternal life within them.
The normal spiritual progression is from a spiritual state of being cold toward Jesus, to being hot toward him.
Ex. Saul of Tarsus - bitterly opposed the gospel until he met Jesus - then because of the boiling affection in his heart would cheerfully die for Jesus.
The third state, that of lukewarmness, is what characterized the church of Laodicea.
Lukewarm = “tepid water”. This is the life that has shown some interest in spiritual things; in fact they are professing Christians who attend church.
But - their life - their attitudes and actions - do not reflect the nature of Jesus.
Say the right things
But their life doesn’t show that they really believe them
Ex. The lukewarm person is the person who has religion, but no relationship with Jesus…
…a person who professes Christ and has the outward manifestations of worship with no inner reality.
√ Jesus judges lukewarmness as a worse spiritual condition than coldness - look at vs. 16 again.
Rev 3:16 "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.
“spew” = vomit!
The violent expulsion from the body of that which is making it sick.
A lukewarm attitude in the church is a sickness that must be expelled from the Body of Christ or the whole Body will be affected and die.
The reason that the lukewarm condition is so dangerous is that the person who is lukewarm doesn’t know that they are!
They have just enough religion to sooth their conscience; but not enough of Jesus to really change their life.
There’s hope for the person who is cold that they will come to see their need for Christ.
The person who is lukewarm and in desperate need of Christ but doesn’t know it because they believe that they are already saved.
Ex. Ever try and witness to a religious person?
Ap. Meaningful to the church of Laodicea
The city piped water from a natural hot springs (Hierapolis) a few miles north of Laodicea for their famed bath houses. However, by the time the water reached the city it was lukewarm…
…not very inviting.
√ Still hope
Important to understand that this judgement of Jesus is in reference to the final condition of a person’s life, not the intermediate condition of a person’s spiritual life.
The point, there’s hope as long as there’s life!
Jesus is giving them time to repent.
2) Materialistic
Note Jesus’ estimation of their spiritual condition.
Rev 3:17 "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked--
This verse is interesting because in it Jesus is quoting the people in the church. That is, this is their estimation of their spiritual condition.
Rich
Wealthy
Need of nothing
That is, they interpreted their spiritual health by their material wealth.
Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
They looked at all their material blessings and saw them as an indication of their good relationship with God. This very well could have been a church that was filled with sermons about...
Prosperity
Health & wealth
Material possessions
...but where Jesus was only mentioned as a means to obtain the material wealth they desired.
√ But Jesus saw them in a different condition.
Note the Lord’s estimation of their spiritual condition…
Wretched
Miserable
Poor (destitute)
Blind
Naked
Worse is that they didn’t know it!
They’re spiritual condition was 180 degrees opposite of what they believed it to be!
Ex. Going in for a routine checkup only to find that you have inoperable cancer.
Ap. That is the sad condition of so many Christians in American today.
Our life’s are easy. We have all that we could ever desire, we eat three square meals a day; we have all the toys a person could ever want.
Yet, so many Christians give their lives to the pursuit of more. They devote their time & resources to get more - bigger, better, brighter toys...
But they don’t have time for Jesus
So what’s a lukewarm person to do?
Instruction (vs. 18-20)
Rev 3:18 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
Rev 3:19 "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Rev 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
√ Instruction
Jesus gives the Church in Laodicea instructions for getting back on track.
1) First, acknowledge that you’ve got Jesus in the wrong place in your life!
Look at where Jesus is as related to this church vs. 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 dine with him, and he with Me.”
…He’s on the outside of the Church knocking to get in!
That’s a bad thing! If Jesus isn’t in the church you better let Him in.
The picture that Jesus is painting symbolically is that the cure for a lukewarm life is found only in a restored relationship with Him.
Note the relationship...
Open the door of your heart
Invite Him in
Dine with Him
“Sup” or “dine” = the main meal to which you would invite someone you wanted to honor.
Sharing a meal with someone in your home expresses the desire to have an intimate relationship with that person.
2) Change shopping channels!
The folks in Laodicea were busy buying up a bunch of stuff - but it was all the wrong things.
So Jesus tells them to change their shopping list!
Notice that they can only get what they need from Him!
That is, for all the shops and merchants that filled Laodicea none could not sell them what they needed.
Gold refined in fire (pure); Psalm 19 tells us that His Word is true gold - refined in the fire. They needed the gold of His word to re-prioritize their life.
Why? That they can be rich in spiritual knowledge of Him and of those things that have eternal value (like relationships).
White garment; in contrast to the pride of their city (black wool). Speaks of the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Why? Because only those properly clothed (spiritually speaking) will be allowed into heaven - Matt. 22.
Eye salve; the Laodiceans were famous for the production of an eye salve - sold in tablet form - crushed and mixed with oil to produce a salve that was supposed to improve poor eye sight.
They needed an eye salve that only Jesus could provide so that their spiritual vision would be improved.
The anointing of the Holy Spirit who gives a man a clear vision of Jesus.
Why? Because they were blind to their true spiritual condition and only the Holy Spirit could open their eyes to see the Truth.
Ex. Saul of Tarsus
√ The price?
In light of Jesus’ instructions the folks in Laodicea would hopefully want to rush right to Jesus and buy what they needed to cure their poor spiritual condition.
But, what’s the price?
Isa 55:1 "Ho!
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy
and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without
money and without price.
Isa 55:2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you--the sure mercies of David.
The price…
…come to Jesus and He will give you what you need for He’s already paid the price!
Ap. All that the lukewarm life needs to be restored to a hot - zestos - life is found in a relationship with Jesus.
The investment is your life - not your money - give it all.
Invitation & promise (vs. 21-22)
Rev 3:21 "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Rev 3:22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
√ Invitation and promise
Jesus closes His messages to the Seven Churches with a personal invitation to anyone who will hear.
Hearing is more than listening - it’s understanding, acknowledging and applying what has been spoken.
The messages to the churches have specific application to the historical church and also to the lives of all Christians throughout church history.
Each of us is best represented by one of the churches...
Ephesus - in danger of losing our first love
Smyrna - suffering for the Name of Jesus
Pergamos - in danger of doctrinal compromise
Thyatira - in danger of moral compromise
Sardis - in danger of spiritual deadness
Philadelphia - faithful yet weak
Laodicea - the danger of lukewarmness
Amazing how each is so relevant to our own church age, and to our own lives as individual Christians.
The wise thing to do is receive His Word of correction. To acknowledge that He who stands in the midst of the lampstands with those eyes of fire is well able to properly discern our greatest need.
Hear and respond.
√ The reward? To share His throne as the Bride of Christ!
Close
√ The great danger is to ignore Jesus. We live in the age of Grace in which He will not force anyone to do anything against their will.
But the time is coming when He will bring an end to human history and then it will be too late.
Are you ready?
Have you responded?
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to…”
…you and me this morning.