March 3, 2024
The Church in Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-22
We are a stubborn people. Sometimes this can be a good thing like when it comes to holding onto the truths of God’s Word, but more times than not when we are stubborn, we are leaning more into our sinful nature. When someone says we are stubborn, many times we like to wear that declaration as a badge of honor. For a Christian being stubborn (outside of holding on to God’s truth) is a very bad thing. It’s something that causes us to be unteachable or uncorrectable, and our stubbornness can even cause Satan to get an inroad into our lives and set up a trap for us. One of these traps that Satan loves to set up in our lives is absolutely terrifying, not because it’s painful or even because it’s unpleasant in any form, but it’s terrifying because it is so easy for all of us to fall into. It’s the trap of self sufficiency and that’s the trap we find the church in Laodicea stuck in without a clue.
The church in Laodicea had done what many of the churches Jesus addresses in Revelation had done. They had taken on the persona of the city that they lived in. The city of Laodicea was a very affluent one, it had a robust trade and commerce industry, it had a banking system that many envied. They were well known for some medical advances, and it seemed that they had everything one could want. It was that surplus of high end luxury goods and an abundance of money that led them into a feeling that they didn’t need anything else. This attitude was further exasperated when in the 60’s AD there was a major earthquake that nearly destroyed their entire city. Roman leaders were coming to bring resources to be able to restore the city and to help further inflate the ego of the city of Laodicea. They declared they didn’t need Rome’s help and were able to restore the city to its previous glory without anyone else's help. However there was one thing that the town lacked ― they lacked water. No matter how many luxuries they had in the city, they would never have the life giving water they so desperately needed, and much to their chagrin they would always have to rely on someone else to sustain them. They would never be self-sufficient.
Revelation 3:14-22
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. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing’. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
In order to understand what Jesus is saying in His opening statement to the church, we need to dig a little deeper into their water problem. The city’s solution to this water shortage was to pipe in water from neighboring cities and they had two sources they decided to bring in. About six miles north of the city there was a Hot Springs that was known for its healing properties of its mineral springs, so the city decided to try and bring that water into the city, but they had another source as well. Ten miles to the east lay Colossae, well known for its cold pure drinking water. That was their second source, but there was a problem with both. When the water would arrive in Laodicea, the water would no longer arrive in the state they hoped it would be in. The cold water would not stay cold over its ten mile trip and it would arrive lukewarm. The water from the hot springs would have cooled over its journey and the minerals in the water would have formed into deposits when its temperature cooled and both of those water sources were said to have made people sick when they drank it in its new state. This was a fact that was well known to the people who made up the church and Jesus wanted to use it to help them understand the seriousness of their stubborn, self-sufficiency. Jesus said I would want you hot or cold, but because you are in the middle it makes me want to puke, just like the water that comes into your city. Jesus was telling them that they were just like their city, no matter how much else they had, they would always have to rely on the life-giving waters of cities around them. Like the city they were in, the church had everything they could ever want and no matter how much they had, they would always have to rely on the water of life that only Jesus could give. It’s interesting that Jesus mentions Hot or Cold being preferable to lukewarm. We all understand why it's a good thing and what it means to be “Hot”. It’s to be Spirit led, motivated by the Gospel, full of zeal and passion for Jesus and His mission. Why would Jesus say He wishes that this church was cold rather than lukewarm? It’s because when you are cold and when you do things in your own strength, you are not dragging the name of Jesus with you. When you are lukewarm, you are taking the name of Jesus with you everywhere, through every thoughtless action and sinful decision. It’s better not to tell anyone you are Christian, than to tell everyone that you are and then you're not living the Gospel. That’s why it makes Jesus sick, because they are taking the name that is above every name with them into their self sufficient world, and no one can see the life changing message of the Gospel played out in their lives. Jesus confronts this outright when He mocks them by saying they have everything. Jesus is telling them that they are victims of their own lifestyles and can’t see the truth because despite seeming like they have everything, they are in spiritual poverty. From Jesus’ perspective they are pathetic, shameful, not as well clothed as they thought they were, and they were oblivious to the entire thing. Jesus was being hard because He knew the dangers this church found themselves in. He tells them 3 things that they could try to buy themselves, but this would only end up helping them realize they were not as self-sufficient as they once thought, they would soon find out that they desperately need Jesus.
1. We need Jesus’ riches.
Jesus starts by asking them if they can buy the things that only He can provide. He talks about the gold that’s been refined with fire and the riches that have been tested and tested, but have never come up short. He’s talking about His grace! Grace can only be given. We cannot earn it nor can we buy it.
The grace that Jesus is speaking of here is the grace that only comes from Jesus and only comes through His death (Galatians 2:21). It’s a grace that saves us from the punishment for our sins (Ephesians 2:8). It’s grace that fully redeems us through Jesus’ blood and completely forgives our sins (Ephesians 1:7-8). It's grace that provides complete reconciliation with God (Romans 5:10). It’s by grace we have an assurance of Salvation (1 John 5:13). Also eternal life with Jesus (John 11:25). This grace that is given is inexhaustible, boundless, and all-sufficient. It’s not something we could ever obtain on our own no matter how many resources we have. When we think we are self-sufficient we miss out on grace and without grace we are lost ― not only now, but for all eternity.
2. We need Jesus’ righteousness.
One of the things Laodicea was known for was luxurious black soft glossy wool. It was the pride of the textile industry that was located there. Jesus contrasted this by saying that if they really want something they would need to be clothed in white. Now this isn’t something as easy as going to the store and picking out a different color, rather it was Jesus again contrasting the things that made them think they had all they needed with what they really needed. Here Jesus was talking about righteousness. Righteousness is behavior that is right and Jesus said in His sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:20) that our righteousness must surpass the greatest of the religious leaders in order to get into heaven. That means righteousness is a big deal, but when we look at scripture we see that our righteousness is like filthy rags, so Jesus is the only one who’s righteousness matches the standard God has set. That leaves us in a rough spot, because that means there is nothing we can do to get into heaven ourselves. Praise God for 2 Corinthians 5:21 when it tells us, “He (Jesus) became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God”. The only way we can meet God’s standard of righteousness is to have His righteousness imputed onto our account when we make Him the Lord of our lives. The dangerous trap the church had fallen into was that they were thinking they were good enough. They had the resources to do many “good” things and they had gotten to the point where they thought that was good enough. They had forgotten their utter dependance on Jesus.
3. We need Jesus’ spiritual insight.
Stop me if you have heard this one before, but Jesus finished out this list of things that the church can’t buy by referring to something that the community of Laodicea would have been very familiar with, and that was eye salve the city was known for. Again, Jesus wasn’t being literal, but he was talking about spiritual sight. What is spiritual sight? It’s spiritual discernment that only comes from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:14) and it works hand and hand with the Word of God when it comes to showing us what should be and should not be in our lives (Hebrews 4:12). It's with this discernment that comes from the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that allows us to obey commands like the one found in Romans 12:9 when we are told to hate what is evil and hold on to what is good. When we are making those judgments without the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to guide us, we will soon find ourselves in a world where right is called wrong and sin is celebrated.
Jesus then tells the church He is only being harsh because He loves them. He only corrects those He loves and then gives the church an illustration we like to equate with the lost, but in actuality He uses it to speak to the church. They will have as much Jesus as they want. He will not force Himself upon them, but He showed them they can’t and shouldn’t continue trying to be self-sufficient. They must humble themselves and open the door and Jesus will come and dine with them. They are the ones who have to make the first move and that’s come to the realization they can’t do life without Jesus.
The letter to the church in Laodicea is the scariest letter to any of the churches we have in Revelation. In Philadelphia and Smyrna they had outside persecution to keep them focused and motivated. The other churches had internal pressures that Jesus encouraged them to deal with Biblically in order to get right. This church had nothing but prosperity. This is why this is the scariest, because we have the same thing and if we are not careful we can find ourselves in the same position and never know it. We can go through the motions, relying on our own God given gifts and talents to do “church”. We can preach, we can worship, we can serve, and never once can it be something that is pleasing to Jesus. We can find ourselves in a variety of places in our lives just doing everything in our own power, being stubborn and trying to be self-sufficient in all of it. The Christian life is a life of utter and total dependence on Jesus. Anything less and we find ourselves in the same place the church in Laodicea did. We must welcome Jesus back into all parts of our lives and stop trying to do everything ourselves. We must rely on Him to move us ahead as a church and lead us into the doors He has opened for us. If not, we must be ready as He promises to correct those He loves.
