Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church

Revelation chapter 3 is where we are. We're going to conclude our study of the seven churches tonight before we embark on Revelation chapter 4. And look at the great chapters before us in the book of Revelation.

But tonight we're going to study the seventh. Church, the seventh and final church, the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm church. And I'm going to say some things tonight that maybe you've never heard before. Maybe you have, but more than likely you haven't. And I'm going to say some things that might cause your feathers to be ruffled a little bit, but that's par for the chorus. Let's read the letter. Revelation 3, verse number 14. And to the angel of the church in Laod, right? 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 would 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, that you may become rich, and white garments that you may clothe yourself. And that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and I solve to anoint your eyes that you may see.

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens a 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 have, or 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. The people in this church were not belie. Paul would write of them in 2 Timothy chapter 3.

They have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. He would go on to say in 2 Timothy chapter 3, avoid those kinds of people. And I will venture to say that the majority of people in churches today are fake, not real Christian. That's the truth. Broad is the way, narrow is the gates. Few there be, the Bible says.

That find that way. Few, not many. Do not be deceived, my friends. There are fewer people born again in America today than ever in the history of America. Don't be fooled by what you hear on television. Don't be fooled by what you hear some TV or radio preacher say. Keep your face and eyes and finger in the text, and understand what the Bible says, so that you be not deceived as those in Laodicea.

were deceived. Let's look at this church, and we'll cover the the same points we've always covered. And we'll begin with the analyzation by looking at the correspondent, the city, and the church. Notice what he says.

He says that he is the am. He 's the amen. He describes himself as the amen, the faithful and true witness. The beginning of the creation of God. All the terms are very significant on how he appears to this church, like in the previous six churches. As Christ introduces him, it is of great significance on how he relates to that church. He has a message for that church. Here he says, he is the am. That's important. God is twice called the Amen in Isaiah 65, verse number 16. It's a Hebrew word that means affirmation.

That means truth. That means certainty. That means firm or unchangeable. Christ says, I am the firm one.

I am the certain one. I am the truthful. One. That's important for those in the church who are false. That's the classic apostate church. They have everything but Jesus. They know everything but God. They claim to be superior in all that they do. And Christ says, I'm the beginning of all creation.

I am the faithful and true witness. I am the Am. Number two, the city. Very significant. Now, I don't want to spend a lot of time here, but I do want to point out a couple of things to you. It was a chief city in the province of Fr. Located about 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia, it was situated in the Lycus Valley. It was founded in 250 B by Antiochus II. But three things I want you to notice about the city that play a very important role in Christ's admonition to the city.

Number one, it was a famous banking center. These people in Laodicea were very wealthy people. So much so that in A 60 there was an earthquake that Ravaged the area, and the Laodice rebuilt their own city without any aid from Rome. They were so wealthy. The second thing you need to notice about this city is that they developed a certain type of wool, a raven black, glossy kind of wool, that they became very famous.

For and they would sell it to all who came through, and they would ship it out. And therefore, that too would contribute to their wealthy status. And they became a very fashion-conscious kind of people because of this black wool that they made. And then lastly, you need to notice that the significant note about this church was that they were world famous for an eye sol that their medical school developed.

Under the god of As, the god of healing, the temple-related school concocted an ointment from Phage powder designed to strengthen the eye. And that powder was very significant. It was a healing ointment, and it would play very big in Christ's admonition to these people. The third thing I want you to see about this analysis of this letter to the Church of Laodicea is the church itself.

Again, we're not sure who founded it, yet back in Colossians chapter 4, Paul would reference this church. When he said these words in Colossians 4, verse number 15, Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea. Interesting. Greet the brethren. In fact, over in chapter 2, verse number 1, he says this: For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on your behalf, and for those who are at Laodicea. Very significant. Because at one time this was a thriving church. If you read through the letter to those at Colosse, you would begin to deduce that maybe Ep.

Could have been instrumental in starting this church, and maybe he was even one of the godly leaders of this church. So there was a time where there was an extreme godly influence in this church. But after 61 A, in which Paul wrote to those in Colossae, to 95 A, the church had completely rotted away. Whatever true believers had been there vanished and now the church was completely counterfeit, which is quite true of most churches. In the world today. Which leads us to point number two: the accusation.

Usually we go from the analyzation to the affirmation, but there's no affirmation here. The Lord goes right into accus these people. Listen to what he says: I know your deeds. That's a very familiar phrase, isn't it? I know your deeds. You're always known by your deeds. But I want you to see three things about his accusation. One was their indifference. Another was their indolence, and thirdly, their ignorance.

First of all, their indifference. Listen to what he says. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I would that you were cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. How do we know that a lukewarm person is not a Christian? Very simple. Christ never rejects the Christian. Here he rejects them. He spits them out of his mouth. John 6:3 says, He that comes to me, I will in no wise what. Cast out. If you come to me by faith, you give your life to me.

I'm never going to cast you out. But what is he doing here? You're nauseating to me. I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. I'm going to reject you. When you vomit something up, you are rejecting it. You are getting rid of it. Why? Because you don't want to have any part of that in your life. The hardest person to win to the Lord is the religious person. The person who thinks they have a semblance of religion. The person who's been going to church all their life, the morally good person, the one who really thinks there's something good in them, the one who sings the songs, the one who reads their Bible, the one who carries their Bible, the biggest Bible to church.

Who somehow think they have a form of religiosity? Those are the most difficult people to win to Christ. John Stott in his commentary. Says this, perhaps none of the seven letters is more appropriate to the 20th century church than this. It describes vividly the respectable, sentimental, nominal, skin-deep religiosity which is so widespread among us today. Our Christianity is flabby and an. We appear to have taken a lukewarm bath of religion. And that's true. Now I know that some of you think I'm crazy, and I know this tape is not going to sell well in days ahead.

I know that. But I need to help you understand something. We need to be open to see how God sees. The church. And we need to be ready to deal with people as God Himself deals with them. So God says, I accuse you because of your indifference.

I accuse you, number two, because of your indolence, your pride, your arrogance. He says, Because you say, I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, that's the apostate church. Christ says, I accuse you because of your indolence.

You think that you have everything. You think you need not me, but you do need me. Their self-confidence is evident in their claims. The religious person thinks he is something. The true believer knows he's nothing. But the religious person thinks he's something if you read 1 Timothy chapter 1. Paul would say, I'm the chief of sinners. I am a wretched man. Today they'd say, You got to go to the psychiatrist. Paul, you got to build your self-est. You got to build yourself image. You're not a wretched man, Paul.

You're really good inside. Don't see yourself as a chief sinner, but the most godly man that ever lived. Saw himself as the most wretched man to ever walk the face of the earth. And that's probably why he is the godliest. We try to fool ourselves. Into thinking we're better than we really are. Notice what Christ says, Thou say, thou sayest, you have need of nothing.

But he says, but you do not know that you are miserable. Remember Matthew 7? Many people will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord. Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not cast out demons in your name? Didn't we do many marvelous deeds in your name? And Christ will say, Depart from me, ye who practice lawlessness. Christ says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, listen very carefully, it's not what you say that gets you.

You into heaven. It's what you do that gets you into heaven. That's what Matthew 7:2 says. You say, Well, Pastor, does that mean that you can do enough works to get you to heaven? No, that's not what it means. But there will be many people who say, but Lord, we were there. We witnessed it. We took mission strips. We went around the world. We sang songs. We went to prayer meetings. We went to big gatherings of men and women across the country. And Christ will say, I never knew you. I never knew you.

Self-deception. Thinking that what we do. Is going to get us into glory. We've done enough things to please God. That's religiosity, that's self-confidence. And these people were wealthy because they were wealthy. They thought that they were prosperous spiritually. And they were blinded to their true spiritual condition. Material prosperity can be a tremendous deterrent to one's spiritual condition. And Christ says, I acc you, number one, because of your indifference.

You 're lukewarm. Number two, because of your indolence, you're prideful, your arrogance. And number three, your ignorance.

He says, You say you have need of nothing, and yet you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. You are ignorant. Now, this was a blow to these people. And I will let you know something: you are miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Well, it teaches us to point number two, or number three, the admonition.

That's in verses eighteen and nineteen. He goes, I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire. The first admonition he gives is: reflect on your condition.

Reflect on your condition. What's your condition? Miserable? Wretched? Poor? Blind? And naked. He's urging them to acknowledge their need. There are many people today who never acknowledge their need of a Savior, they don't see themselves as sinners. They see something in them as good when the scriptures say there is nothing good in man, but they see themselves as good. They see themselves as appealing to God. There's nothing in you that appeals to God. You are his enemy. You are hostile toward him.

You love darkness rather than light because your deeds are evil, the Bible says. And he's urging them, reflect on your condition. Know your states. Know that you are bare before me. You're not. Cloaked in my righteousness, know that you are absolutely poor. You have nothing spiritually, although you might have everything materially. Number one, reflect on your condition.

Number two, recognize his solution. Recognize his solution. Listen to what he says. He says, buy from me gold refine by fire. Buy? Buy with what? How can I buy something? Can salvation be purchased? May I be so bold as to say yes, it can? Let me read to you Isaiah 55, verse number 1.

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without Cost Christ gave an invitation in Isaiah 55. Here he says, You've got to come and buy from me gold refined by fire. Well, if I am poor, what can I give to God to purchase from him gold? Answer? Nothing but your wretched, miserable soul. Number three, real his affection.

Listen once again very carefully. The Bible says, verse number 19: Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.

Again, most commentators will say, you see, this church at Laodicea was a believing church because God only disciplines those in whom He loves. Well, interest thoughts. But what's the very first Bible verse you ever learned?

John 3:1. For God so loved the world. Thank you, Jack. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. The cont of Revelation 3 pro that these aren't believers. But these are unbelievers. God loves the apostate church. Did you hear that? God loves the apostate church. He loves them. And so he says, real my affection. Recognize my solution. Reflect on your condition. And fourthly, repent with conviction. Be zealous. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Repent from your indifference. Repent from your indolence.

Repent from your ignorance. Repent from all that keeps you from coming to me. Turn from your ways. They were satisfied with the way they were. They were complacent. They thought everything was okay. And Christ says, no.

You got repent. You got turn around. You can't be sorry because I caught you. You got be sorry for your sin. Martin Lloyd-Jones did it this way. Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God. That you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. You renounce the world, whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook, as well as its practice, and you deny yourself and take up your cross and go after Christ.

That's repentance. And Christ says, be zealous and rep. Which leads us to our final point: the applic. Three points I want to give you. Very familiar verse. Most of us have used it many times in salvation messages. But for those who believe that the church at Laodicea was a saved church, they will tell you that Revelation 3. 20 cannot be used as an evangelistic passage. But if you understand the context of Revelation chapter 3, and you know that Laodicea is an unsaved church, then you can understand and interpret correctly Revelation chapter 3, verse number 20.

Behold. In other words, stand amazed. In other words, can you believe this? That's what Christ is saying. I stand at the door of the apostate church. And I knock. I want to be let in. I want to get into the apostate church. I want to somehow get in there. How did he get in? If just one person, the door is not the heart of the individual, the door is the door of the church. That's the context. I'm standing at your door. I want to get into your church. Let me in.

How does he get in? It just takes one person to let him in. Just one. Just one. Just one person to give their life to Christ, and Christ then gets into the apostate church. He says, Behold, I stand at the door, knock, be amazed. Number one, receive the Christ.

Receive the Christ. Receive me into your life. He says, Behold, I stand at the door knocking. 5. If any man, if there is any person, just one person there to let me in, I can get into the church.

Is there anyone? If any man opens his door, I will come into him and will dine with him and he with me. The word dine, dep, means the final supper of the day. The final supper of the day. It deals with intimacy. It deals with communion. It deals with fellowship. If just one person lets me in. Then we can begin our dining together, our fellowship together. It's the last meal of the day, meaning the significance of that is: before the night falls, before the judgment of God falls, let me in before too late.

And you'll notice that when Revelation chapter 4 comes, where's the church? It's no longer on earth, it's in heaven. Why? Because the tribulation will have begun. And Christ says, before it's too late, before the night of judgment comes, I want to dine with you.

Same words used at the marriage supp of the Lamb. We will sit down with him in the marriage supp of the Lamb. We will sit down and dine with him during the millennial reign of Christ. Christ said, If you just let me in now, we can begin the supp time.

We can begin the dining time. We can begin the intimate time together before it's too late. It's the last supp of the day. It 's the last opportunity. Receive it now.

Now. Receive the Christ. Number two, reign with Christ. Reign with Christ. Here's the invitation. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Stand amazed. I'm ready to come in. But here is the elevation. He says, if I do come in. You become the overcomer, and I will grant to you to sit down with me on my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. Wow. We'll reign with Christ. That is elevation. We will all get together to run the throne of God, meaning that we will rule with authority in the new millennium.

What a promise that God gives to the overcomer. What a promise God gives to any man who opens a door and invites him to come in that he might have fellowship. With that individual, it will be on the messianic throne that the true believers will also sit and rule and reign with Christ. Here's the invitation. Receive the Christ. Here's the elevation. You'll reign with Christ. Here is the exam. Regard Christ's counsel. That's point number three.

Verse number 22: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Spirit. Churches. Have you heard? We've read seven letters. Seven letters that deal with every church known to man. And every individual that ever walked the face of the earth are somewhere in those seven letters. How about you? Have you regarded the counsel of the Christ. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. If you're here tonight and never given your life to Christ, Don't leave without doing that. Make sure you have received the white garments.

You have received what he has freely given. That you may be what he wants you to be.