Laodicea - The Church That Made God Sick Pt. 1
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
“You nauseate me!” “You make me sick!” “When I see you, I want to vomit!” - Not exactly words of compliment or praise are they?
These are the words that Christ had to say to His church in the city of Laodicea…Their spiritual condition was nauseating and made Christ sick!
The worst part of it all probably was the fact that they were unaware of their true spiritual status. They believed everything was fine and nothing was wrong, but Jesus says, “No! You’re like the lukewarm, unfit drinking water that your city is infamous for! You’re not like the cold, refreshing water of Colossae, or the hot healing waters of Hierapolis…You’re lukewarm and I’ll not stomach this!”
Jesus saved the worse church to last. This letter is the saddest, the most disturbing and, sadly, the one we can identify the most clearly with. It is the picture of most churches today.
Christ has no words of commendation for Laodicea - none whatsoever - only condemnation comes from the mouth of “…the Amen, the faithful and true witness...”
No church, I repeat, no church should every be satisfied with where it thinks it is…When we get to the point where we look around and think, yeah, we’ve done pretty good, or we’re doing pretty good, we’ve got it all figured out, no need to learn anything new, no need to change the way we do anything, then we are on dangerous ground...We need to constantly remind ourselves that we are nothing apart from God...
We are easily deceived in our sin…Our God doesn’t need us! Remember that!
-Illustration about SD and getting angry…Wash pit at STMC...
No, God doesn’t need us, but we all desperately need Him!
As with the six previous letters in Revelation, this letter follows a similar pattern, but without any words of praise.
The great thing that we notice is that the condition of the church in Laodicea is critical, but it’s not terminal, Christ has a remedy for their problem if they’ll only listen and obey Him!
The Church of Christ
The Church of Christ
Revelation 3:14 (KJV 1900)
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;...
This letter, like the other six, is written to a church within a city...
Learning about the city, helps us understand the context of what the verses are telling us...
Laodicea was the most famous city in Asia Minor, because of its great wealth which was accumulated through three main trades.
The first was the production of an extravagant black wool, which was highly sought after by the wealthy.
The second trade was medicine. The city boasted of one of the most renowned medical schools, and pharmaceutical products in the world. One of the most famous pharmaceuticals made there was a special ointment that was said to cure eye diseases. People came from all over the Roman world in search of remedies for their ailments.
The third trade was banking. Laodicea became a hub for money lending.
In spite of all the wealth of Laodicea, it had one problem that money couldn’t quite solve. This problem centered on its water supply.
The city, in great need of water, would pipe in cold water from Colossae, and hot water from the hot springs of Hierapolis, but, by the time the water reached Laodicea from either place, it was lukewarm.
It is to the church located in this city that Jesus comes with a tough message for them!
The Coming of Christ
The Coming of Christ
Revelation 3:14 (KJV 1900)
14 ...These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Jesus presents Himself as the “Amen.”
This is the only place in the Bible where it is used as a name. It means “the truth.” Amen is the transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning “truth, affirmation, certainty.”
What the Lord is going to tell them is true. He was going to tell them exactly their condition and need. He is the last word and final authority.
God’s Word is true!
The Lord is also the faithful and true witness and the beginning of the creation of God which means He is the source of creation.
Christ is a witness for God and His truth…He cannot approve anything of which God disapproves…
The Complaint of Christ
The Complaint of Christ
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
There is not one single word of commendation for this church…Only a list of complaints.
He has two complaints listed in these verses...
His complaint of the Church’s Apathy...
His complaint of the Church’s Apathy...
Apathy means, “Lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.”
What a picture of many churches today!
Vance Havner said, “They were a little too cold to be hot and a little too hot to be cold.”
It means they were not passionate about the Lord, His word, or His work in the world. They were on the fence—they could take it or leave it! The church at Laodicea had:
◾ other things on their minds,
◾ other priorities in their hearts,
◾ and other activities filling their schedules.
The condition of this church was nauseating to the Lord. They were straddlers, fence sitters, middle of the roaders and useless. They made the Lord sick because of their lukewarmness. The church would understand this concept for the water in Laodicea was terrible.
A church that is neither enthusiastic nor antagonistic is very difficult to deal with.
Half-heartedness and apathy will paralyze any effort.
I believe the Lord is saying, “You are providing neither healing for the spiritually sick nor refreshment for the spiritually thirsty. You are spiritually lukewarm, and I will not tolerate you. If you do not repent, I will vomit you out of My mouth. You are sickly. I will not tolerate your condition any longer. You are flat and unsavory. You badly misrepresent the life-changing power of the gospel and the refreshment and healing it brings.”
We would be wise to learn the lesson of this lukewarm church. We must not be indifferent or ignorant to our spiritual condition but continually take inventory in the light of God’s Word. We must face up to our true spiritual condition. Jesus knows who we are and what we are doing.
God’s greatest desire is that we be on fire for Him.
This church did not deny the Gospel. Their major problem lay in the fact that they were not hot. They had no enthusiasm, no emotion, no zeal, no urgency, no commitment for Christ. They had religion without power. Does this describe your spiritual condition?
His complaint of the Church’s Arrogance...
His complaint of the Church’s Arrogance...
I find it amazing that in this city which was known for it’s eye-salve, yet we find the church blinded to its need by it’s own arrogance!
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
This church said that they were rich, but Jesus says that they were poor.
This church says that they didn’t need anything, but Jesus says that they needed Him.
This church thought everything was alright when everything was all wrong!
This was a proud and boastful church, arrogant and snobby church. Pride is a sin against God and when become smug and self-sufficient we are full of sin and unrighteousness.
18 Pride goeth before destruction, And an haughty spirit before a fall.
This church knew they had physical resources and financial resources, but they did not know the spiritual condition of their souls.
The Lord Jesus says that they didn’t even know their real condition.
The preacher could preach Sunday after Sunday and they were oblivious to their real condition. They were deceived about their real condition.
They said they were rich, Jesus said they were wretched.
Wretched: means ‘pressed with a burden.’ The burden of this church was not their poverty, but their wealth. It has been well said, “The real question today is not whether the church can survive persecution, but whether it can survive prosperity.” The church thought they had need of nothing.
They were also miserable!
The word miserable refers to one who has the means available to relieve his pain, but chooses not to take advantage of it. The Lord Jesus says that this church had the means to be what the Lord wanted them to be, but they chose not to take advantage of it.
This church was indifferent toward the Lord, and they were independent from the Lord. The Lord Jesus reveals the wayward condition of this church. This church was wretched, they were miserable, they were poor, they were blind, and they were naked.
Conclusion
Conclusion
This church was in an awful condition—I think this describes many churches today!
Are we in a pitiful condition?
How does the Lord Jesus see us today?
Are we wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked? Are we a lukewarm church?
Charles Swindoll wrote, “As I consider our culture of worldly excess, extreme individualism, and self-reliance, it’s difficult to avoid the realization that Christ’s message to Laodicea has special application to us today. Too many Christians live in luxury, but they have little interest in the lost. We employ the latest church growth gimmicks, but we add few new believers to our numbers. In so many ways we have exchanged influence for affluence, concern for comfort, and passion for passivity. Our physical prosperity and resulting self-sufficiency can mask the fact that we’re spiritually ‘wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
Let us repent of being a lukewarm congregation and be boiling for the Lord! Let us be hot for Jesus, the Word of God, the work of God, the house of God, the service of God!