Confronting Spiritual Apathy: The Urgent Message to Laodicea - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

This evening we come to the last of the seven churches that the

risen Lord Jesus addressed at the start of this revelation given

to John.

And so far we've seen the church as she is in the world in,

in these end times.

And after each letter to the church we have the same refrain or

the same command given.

And I hope as you've been listening and paying attention, you'll

know exactly what I'm about to say.

In some shape or form, we are told, he who has an ear, let him

hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And this just happens to be the one from verse six of chapter

three.

Now, this has been a key phrase and it's one that is important

for us to note because these letters have not been simply about

individual churches.

Rather, these letters are to be read by all the churches, and

not just the churches then, but the church now.

So this means that not only does the church know what's going

on, but as we hear the themes of the letters, the church also knows

that it may be facing the similar pressures from the world.

And that pressure from the world is to conform to its ways and

to its practice and to turn from Christ.

And that's what we've seen in some of the churches in particular,

particularly in Smyrna, where it's called that it's dead.

It's not even alive.

It's.

It's dead because it has fallen away.

It's listened to the world.

We've read about on two occasions the Synagogue of Satan,

where the Jewish pressure on the church was huge.

And we also heard of Jezebel, the one who was bringing people away

from the church.

So as we come to the church in Laodicea, we perhaps hear the hardest

criticism of them all yet.

It is a warning to all the churches to wake up and to pay attention,

but it's also a warning to wake up and pay attention to the

church through all of time.

The letter is like the one to Sardis.

And so as you look at this map of the ancient world, you'll see

that from the island of Patmos, as I've been saying, each

week where the churches are, they're spreading out.

And Laodicea is now at its the furthest away from where John is

writing.

And so, like Sardis, this church receives no commendation,

but it receives a severe rebuke.

And astonishingly, this church thinks that they are doing well.

They're starting to grade themselves and they're saying, well,

we're not so bad.

Look at all of these things that we have.

But Jesus reveals to them their true state.

And why does he do it?

Because the passage tells us that it is out of love that he rebukes

and that he disciplines.

And the state that they're in calls for them to come to him and

to be restored.

The difficult words addressed to the church are indeed that evidence

of Christ's love because he's calling them to repent.

He doesn't want them to fall away.

He's calling them to come back to him because he stands at the door

of the church and he knocks.

And they must open the door and repent for Jesus to come in and

eat with them.

Only those who conquer, we're told, at the end, will rule with

Jesus.

This is self satisfied and self sufficient church.

And this fits with what the history of the city of Laodicea was

like.

Because Laodicea suffered an earthquake in AD 60 and it declined

help from the imperial state because it thought it was wealthy

enough to rebuild.

And the city was renowned for its medical and textile industries,

including its treatment of eye disease, and was also well known

for its worship of Zeus.

And so in this climate, the church was not a faithful witness

to this city.

But the message to this church is that Jesus is is faithful.

So where they have been lacking in their faithfulness or

their unfaithfulness, Jesus demonstrates that he will remain

faithful to them.

And that's what the introduction to this letter tells

us.

In verse 14.

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write the words of the

Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of of God's

creation.

We're going to look at faithful and true witness, but Amen.

What does Amen mean?

We say at the end of every prayer.

It quite literally means, and let it be.

It is a form of agreement that as we conclude a prayer, we say Amen

because we agree.

So here is Jesus, who's already described himself as the

Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end is now the

Amen.

He is the agreement of all things that the Lord has brought

about or is bringing about, because.

Because he is the beginning of God's creation, this new creation

that is eagerly awaiting his church.

And so the one who is writing to them not only speaks truth, but

he is truth.

And so knowing what is to come next.

This is a church that needs to know that what is said as a warning

is said in love, so that they indeed will repent and come back

to their first love.

Now, the church in Laodicea is probably the best known of the seven

churches because of what is said in verses 15 and 16.

Jesus here uses very descriptive language, using descriptive

words to tell them how their spiritual health is.

And this is what he says.

I know your works.

You are neither hot or you are neither cold nor hot.

Would that you were either cold or hot.

So because your lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit

you out of my mouth.

I know that you would never mock your minister.

Well, one of the things I remember from my very early days

was the mocking that I got, particularly at men's night, for

how slowly I would drink a cup of tea.

I was always the last one to finish my tea and I always needed

more time to.

It was rather hot to drink the tea and ended up washing the cup

because Shirley had gone home and the dishes were done.

I simply couldn't drink it as quick as everybody else.

But I can drink hot tea and I like hot tea, but I have to drink

it slowly.

But I can also drink cold tea, much to my mother's annoyance because

she often clears the cup away.

And then I come back looking for the last mouthful of tea and

it's already gone.

I can drink it cold, but I cannot drink lukewarm tea.

It just doesn't taste right.

You don't get the intensity of the heat of the hot cup of tea nor

the refreshing taste of a cold one.

A cup of lukewarm tea is quite literally lacklustre and not enjoyable

at all.

Well, this is the idea that we're seeing here of what Jesus is

saying.

The churches look warm and it's.

It's not good.

In fact, it's going to be spat out because it is not good.

The church.

This idea of hot and cold is being described spiritually, that

it's not on fire for the Lord, nor has it rejected him.

It's sitting somewhere in between.

And that's not good.

It is lukewarm because.

And ready to be spat out because this is not true faith in

Christ.

And you know, it wasn't false teaching.

It wasn't immorality or idolatry or their lack of courage

in the face of persecution that earned them this rebuke.

Jesus here is disgusted by the fact that they seem to have no sense

of their desperate need for him.

They saw Jesus simply as a nice addition to all the things in

their life that brought them comfort and security and enjoyment.

And that's what verse 17 tells us.

They rested on their own prosperity and on their own goodness

rather than on the finished work of Christ on the cross.

But Jesus does give them advice and it is advice that they

should follow.

And so in verse 18 he says, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined

by fire so that you may be rich.

And white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame

of your nakedness may not be seen.

And salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.

Jesus is offering them something that only he can give.

What he offers is different from what the world can give.

It is Jesus who gives pure gold, clean garments and healing

medicine for their eyes.

And why does he say sal for the eyes?

Because Laodicea was a city that prided itself on its advancements

in treating eye disease.

And so as they were spiritually poor, they needed to

buy gold from Jesus to become wealthy.

They were seeking wealth in the wrong place.

They were seeking material prosperity when they should have

been finding their wealth in Christ.

They needed to purchase white garments for him to cover their nakedness

which could stand for their idolatry in loving the riches of

this world.

As the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel and Nahum mention in their

prophecies, the beautiful and expensive garments made in Laodicea

didn't truly cover them.

They needed to go to the Lord for these garments of white.

And similarly Jesus has salve for their eyes so that they can truly

see.

And so Jesus counsel to them and to us is to come to him with

nothing but our need and then experience his provision.

And though we've been dismissive of his gifts and unreceptive

to his provision, instead of turning away from us, he offers Himself

to us.

He wants to go past our self sufficient practices and into the

closed off areas of our lives.

He wants to share life with us in intimate ongoing fellowship.

He wants to move in close to address what is really our need.

He wants us to repent of our lackluster ways of worshiping him

and receive him for who he truly is.

He is our Savior who gave his life for us and so he is not to be

ignored.

Nor is he to be thought of as a good luck charm or a convenient

spiritual icon as the church in Laodicea seemed to treat Him.

That is why he says in verse 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 eat with him and he with me.

Some of you will be old enough to remember the gospel missions of

Noel Grant.

And they were big around County Armand.

As a family we would have attended them.

And I do remember one gospel tract that the late Noel Grant wrote

wrote.

And on the front cover was a Reinterpretation of William Holman

Hunt's painting entitled the Light of the World.

It's famous because, being Based on Revelation 3, verse 20,

Revelation 3:20

there is a door that doesn't have a handle on the outside, suggesting

that it is only the person on the inside who can open it to the

one who knocks.

Now, I don't think this allegorical picture gives the full

story of what Jesus is saying here in verse 20, because often this

image is used as an evangelistic tool, as it was on Noel

Grant's tract.

But this is a letter to the church, it is a letter to us.

And Jesus is standing, knocking at the door of the church.

So how do we understand what's going on here?

Well, Christ gives this helpful illustration of standing

at the door and knocking.

It's because that they have left him outside.

They've left him outside of their lives, and they've conducted

their affairs without Him.

The believers must hear his voice.

They must hear his knock.

And as they hear and as they respond, that means they must repent.

Let him in.

If they do so, he will sit down and he will feast with them

and perhaps the meal in view.

Here is what we'll read later in Revelation 19, the messianic banquet

at the end of time.

It is the church that needs to respond to the risen Lord Jesus.

It is the church that has closed its ears to the truth.

And haven't we seen that in our own history, even within our

own denomination?

Because there were liberal churches in the 1960s and 1970s that

in the 1980s and 1990s were closed because they had closed their

ears, they had rejected biblical truth.

Many of those congregations did close because the church had

nothing to offer, because it was trying to have a message similar

to that message of the world.

But before we judge the church in history too quickly, do we today

still close our ears to this truth?

Because I think we do.

When we refuse to live as Christ wants us to live, then we

close our ears to his voice.

This might look like believers not saying hello to each other, never

mind having a conversation.

It might look like speaking ill of or grumbling about the church

of Jesus Christ so that we can curry favor with other judgmental

and righteous people.

It might look like saying, we are a Christian, but deep down we

know we haven't had a quiet time, read the Bible, or even prayed

in months because of circumstances in life.

And the list could go on because it turns out we do close

our ears.

And that's why our Savior needs to knock at the door of the

Church.

The church is not an institution.

The church is its people.

And he is knocking so that we will hear and we will respond.

But as we hear him knocking, we must remember who Jesus is.

He is the one at the door.

He is not silent.

He is making us, even in this moment, sit up and pay attention

to his warning and to his counsel, so that we will be changed

from being lukewarm to being hot in the faith for Him.

That's why he goes on in verse 21 to assure us, the one who conquers,

I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered

and sat down with my Father and His throne.

Those who overcome, those who will be hot in the faith, who will

not be lukewarm, well, they will rule with Jesus.

Just like he has said to the church in pergamum.

The reign of Jesus is shared with all his saints, all those who

belong to Him.

Jesus Himself is the model for believers, for he overcame through

his faithful witness and was exalted and sat down at the right

hand of the Father to rule with him.

And so too, the Laodiceans must be faithful and they must be

humble, for only the faithful and humble will be exalted.

And so the bracing message here isn't limited to the Laodiceans,

but captures the message of the Spirit for all the churches.

Every church is liable to the same errors as the church at Laodicea.

So I ask you this evening, will you sit up and will you listen

to the risen Lord Jesus who is telling you to wake up from your

slumber and live seriously for him?

Stop being lukewarm, seek after him to be hot in faith?

Will you live to his standard and get over the annoyances that

you might have with others, knowing that the unity of the body

of the Church of Christ is blessed?

Far greater worth than your self sanctification of doing things

your way.

And remember the warning that we began with.

The same warning to all the churches here recorded in verse 29

of chapter 2.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the

churches.

These opening three chapters present to us what Jesus wants us

to know about how we really are.

He also tells us that he knows us.

We can be good at putting on a show so that the world outside as

they watch on will think we're good.

But it is the living Lord Jesus who truly knows our hearts.

We must pay attention to what is said to all the church so that

we will be warned and thereby come to Jesus for what he offers

so that we will be secure in him.

And what has he said to the churches?

What has the Spirit said to the churches that we must pay attention

to?

Well, to the church in Ephesus, the challenge was to find

your first love and to truly love him, as it said in chapter two

and verse four, to find again that first love of Jesus and to live

for him.

To the church in Smyrna, they were challenged to keep going in

tribulation and be faithful unto death, for the crown of life

will be theirs and be ours as we keep going.

In verse 10 of chapter 2 to the church in Pergamum, we're told

to close our ears to false teaching and to untruths that will

make us believe that we can commit sin and get away with it.

In verse 14 of chapter 2 to the church in Thyatira, they are

told, and we are told to stop going after what you think will satisfy

you, only to have it pull you deeper into sin in chapter two and

verse 23.

Then in chapter three, to the church in Sardis, wake up and live

authentic lives of integrity for the sake of Christ and the Gospel

in verse two.

And then to the church in Philadelphia.

Hold fast to faith in the midst of great trials in verse 11.

And as we've seen tonight, to the church of Laodicea.

Keep hot in the faith by going to Christ, knowing that you need

him in verse 18.

See, these letters are presented to us because of what is

revealed next.

Remember, Revelation is the great revealing.

A curtain is pulled back for us.

And that first curtain was to show us who God is in chapter one.

Then a second curtain revealing what is the state of the

Church and what it faces from the world.

And as we go into chapter four next week, another curtain will be

pulled back so that we will see the King upon his throne, ruling.

And there is logic to this so that as we know ourselves, so we

can approach the one who is on his throne.

And so we must be right with him.

We must be right with the king through the risen Lord Jesus, so

that we can know his good for us and his keeping of us in these

last days.

It's Jesus himself in John's gospel, chapter 14 and verse six,

who tells us, I am the way and.

And the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

And so the stage is set to be transported from the earth to the

heavenly kingdom so that we will see the Lord God ruling and

reigning on his throne and everything that will come in the

next chapters.

But to understand what it means for us, we must understand

ourselves.

And as we look at the church of Laodicea tonight, are you hearing

the knock of the risen Lord Jesus?

Are you hearing his knock on the door, asking you to respond to

him, asking you to pay attention to what the devil is doing,

to come, to repent and to rejoice in the glorious hope that

we have in him and in him alone.

Let us pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that constantly challenges

us.

That, Father, is your word of truth, as Jesus bears witness of

the truth so that we may know what we're to do.

And Father, for some of us we are commended for our faith and so

we know and have certainty of that crown of glory.

But for others, we have pulled away.

We have become lukewarm.

We're neither hot nor cold, and it's a very dangerous place to

be.

So, Father, draw us back.

May we hear your son, Jesus, call us back so that we can know

his forgiveness, we can know his delight, we can know his joy

and that we will live for him now as we get ready for that day

when he will come and take us home.

So, Father, may we respond well to your word and this night,

in Jesus name, amen.