To the Church in Laodicea

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:22

Revelation 3:14–22– The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Third Sunday after Pentecost  – June 26, 2022 (am)

I mentioned last week that I’d received no questions. I want you to know that I’ve had many conversations on Rev. and answered many questions. I was just referring to written questions to be answered publicly. I now have several!

Questions & Answers

In the message on Sardis, I mentioned that half-hearted devotion doesn’t cut it. Weekend Christianity won’t do it. Lazy, slow, unfinished works of faith are stained garments, not white! So, the question was asked: What is half-hearted devotion, weekend Christianity, unfinished works of faith? This refers to people who make a profession of faith but don’t live out that profession. In conversation with them they might claim to know Christ. They may even attend church somewhat regularly. But Christ really isn’t the center of their lives; they make their decisions on a different basis than the pursuit of holiness in relationship with Him. Just as with those in Sardis, it’s hard to know whether they have genuinely trusted in Christ as Savior.

Why these seven churches? Why not Corinth, Philippi, Galatia, etc.? First, Ephesus is included, and that’s a pretty prominent NT church. But as to the rest, John is writing from the island of Patmos just off the coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and these seven churches line up according to the mail delivery route. Still, it’s hard to believe their ordering is that random because there’s also a chiastic structure to their messages (Beale 1999 32-33). Plus, there were at least twice this number of churches in Asia Minor at the time (Wilson 256). So, I think John’s location accounts the geographic zone of the letters. The circumstances each church faced accounts for its selection. And, as we’ve said, the selection of seven likely represents Jesus’ intention to address all churches through this group.

What happened in history to the seven churches? Better than answering this question here, this is a good opportunity for me to mention that we’ve started a Q&A page on our website. You’ll find the option listed on the home page. Check it out!

After last Sunday I was asked: Do you believe in a ‘rapture’? Do you think God will keep believers during the trial? And: Are we in that period now? Wow. In summary, yes, I believe in a rapture, meaning Paul’s caught up together (1Th.4:17). I just believe that it’s all of one piece with the second coming of Christ. Paul mentions the trumpet of God there, which I believe is the same as the last trumpet in 1Co.15:51-52, the loud trumpet call in Mat.24:31, and the seventh trumpet in Rev.11:15-19. I see no reason to separate any of these into different events. Yes, we’re in the great tribulation now; I believe that extends from Jesus’ ascension until His return (Mat.24:9ff.; Carson 2010 557), and I believe evil opposition, the wrath of the beast (13:5-8), will continue escalating, increasing in frequency and intensity like birth pangs (cf. Mat.24:8), throughout this time. But I also believe that God will keep [His people] from [feeling His wrath as it is poured out in His appointed] hour of trial that is coming on the whole world (3:10). That promise of protection stands!

Is eschatology a primary or secondary issue in our faith? I think it’s both, really. Eschatology is primary in the sense that we’re called to live with our attention focused unrivaled on the return of Christ and our readiness for that Day. But it’s secondary with regard to the precise ordering of the accompanying events that surround that Day. Those signs remind us that Jesus’ coming is near, but we shouldn’t be arguing or, still less, dividing over how best to order them.

Now let’s dive into the last of these seven letters. Laodicea was a sister city with Colossae and Hierapolis and was mentioned by Paul a couple of times in Col.4. The Laodiceans were supposed to read Paul’s letter to Colossae, and vice versa (Col.4:16). But Jesus’ letter to Laodicea is much more familiar to us. In fact, portions of it are among the more familiar texts in the whole of these seven letters (Rev.2-3). Still, I wonder how closely we’ve really listened to it. Let’s look at this final letter in our four stages.

The Ascription – 14

The closest this greeting comes to referencing the vision of c.1 is in its echo of some of the characteristics of Jesus identified there: the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead… (1:5). Israel had been God’s appointed witnesses according to Isa.43:10-12, but they failed in their calling. Jesus is now the faithful and true witness to His own resurrection. He’s God’s resounding, reliable Amen, and the beginning of His [new] creation (1), which was also promised by Isaiah (65:17ff).

The Assessment – 15-17

These Laodiceans, however, weren’t clearly on the road to that final destination—God’s [new] creation (1). In fact, they were worse off than any church Jesus had yet addressed—He had nothing good to say to them at all! They were disgusting to Him. 15 I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. They were like tepid water to a thirsty man, useless! But beyond even that, they were nauseating!

Jesus wasn’t saying here that hot is good and cold is bad, like we might: someone is either hot toward God, meaning, devoted, or cold, meaning, indifferent. No, here, both hot and cold are good. They’re useful.

Hierapolis, a few miles north, had hot springs with wonderfully therapeutic qualities. Colossae, a few more miles southeast, had cold springs with richly refreshing qualities. Laodicea had neither. But by the time the hot water reached Laodicea from Hierapolis through underground aqueducts, it was lukewarm, smelly, mineral water. It wasn’t hot enough to relax their muscles or cold enough to satisfy their thirst. Drink it down and you’d almost surely throw it up!

This is what the Laodicean church was to Jesus—absolutely useless, just like their water. And if something didn’t change, He was going to spit [them] out of [His] mouth. This image is quite similar to removing the Ephesians’ lampstand (2:5), but it’s nowhere near as genteel! So, to be perfectly clear, Laodicea’s survival as a church was in jeopardy!

Still, look at their self-perception! 17 … You say, I am rich…. And they were—one of the richest cities in the ancient world. They had three very profitable industries: banking, a prominent medical school, and textiles (cf. Barclay 138). When they were destroyed by an earthquake in ad 61, they rebuilt using only their own resources—no financial assistance from the Roman government. Their medical school was widely known, specializing in ophthalmology and audiology, and there were two beneficial and quite profitable salves they’d developed there, one for ears and one for eyes (Barclay 138). They also produced a signature violet-black wool used to mass produce clothing, mostly tunics.

They had need of nothing (17) in Laodicea, as far as they could tell, not from any worldly perspective. And it seems they were capable of the same mistake we can still make today: misidentifying material blessing as spiritual blessing. They may’ve been rich, and they may’ve been influential. They may even have been revered by others, held in high regard like the financial, medical, and fashion industries are still today; they certainly thought highly of themselves. But Jesus said they were seriously deceived. And the net result was nauseatingly worthlessness to Him!

17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. They were like the Emperor in that story by Hans Christian Andersen, parading around thinking he was wearing ornate clothing that was invisible only to fools, when in fact he was wearing nothing at all! They were naked! Completely self-deceived! And why were they in such a state? Because they were to Jesus just as He was to them, essentially useless! Oh, it was important enough to them to claim to be Christians—probably fire insurance against the possibility of eternal judgment. But aside from that, Jesus made little or no difference in their day-to-day lives.

Apart from attending church…, most Sundays, that is, unless something came up, like a little league game, or big-league tickets—apart from attending church and maybe wearing a fish bracelet, they were pretty much indistinguishable from the world around them.

They were good people, though, fine citizens, self-supporting taxpayers. They had nice homes, well-trimmed lawns. They were gracious at dinner parties and morally upright in city life—role-models. I’m sure they faithfully bought Christmas wreaths from the Laodicean Boy Scouts, and cookies from the Girls.

In fact, they did most everything the right way. They met the world’s standard of nice in exemplary ways. And they certainly met their own standard, as well.

But they were worthless as faithful witnesses! They were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked (17), and didn’t even know it! Think about these last three in light of their local industries: banking, ophthalmology, and clothing!

These folk were completely deceived and entirely unaware of it. Smyrna was financially poor, but rich in faith (2:9). Laodicea was filthy rich but had no spiritually commendable works at all. Whatever faith they may’ve professed was utterly ineffective. They wanted to fit in and not stand out! Life was good in Laodicea! All needs were met! It was a great place to live, much like DuPage County, and they just got drawn into it all.

Their values got reversed and they started seeing the visible things as more important than the invisible (cf. 2Co.4:18). They started trusting their physical eyes and ears more than their spiritual ones. They’d fallen into living life by the rhythms of Laodicea, evaluating by their standards, and thinking everything was [mighty] fine.

But God was about to throw up!

The Assignment – 18-19

True wealth comes only from Jesus—only His gold (18) will never lose its value. Only white garments (18) from Him, not their black ones, could cover their form of nakedness. And only His salve, not theirs, would cure their blindness. The currency they needed to purchase these resources from Jesus was the same then as it is still today, namely, zealous repentance (19)—a white-hot course-reversal, born of faith!

They’re now the fifth of the seven churches called by Jesus to repent. That’s where it all starts! Only Smyrna and Philadelphia were told to keep pressing on in the same direction. All the rest, especially Laodicea, needed to turn around—like those other two had already done!

The Assurance – 20-22

And if Laodicea would repent, they’d discover that Jesus was standing right there waiting for them, to [fellowship] with them (20). He was even knocking, as it were, at the very door of their hearts, offering intimate, table [fellowship] with anyone of them who’d hear and respond—anyone at all!

He began with Behold (20): essentially, Look! Here I am! Do you see me? Again, a visual image; but this is also an image of their need to have Him penetrate their self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Those who respond will receive genuine, true and lasting, riches and influence! If they’re faithful and true witnesses they’ll reign with Him Who’s their prototype: the faithful and true witness! (14) He conquered sin and death at the cross (5:5) and, as we follow in His steps, conquering the lure of sin in our own lives by faith in Him and the victory He’s won for us, we’re granted the privilege of reigning with Him! We’ll taste all that Laodicea thought they already had when they were fooling themselves—all we can think we have even while we give so little thought to Him at all.

So, they could either repent (19) and begin imitating Jesus as a faithful and true witness (14), or they could face him as a “faithful and true” judge (19:11), who [would] vomit them out (Beale 1999 302).

Conclusion

Friends, this letter is a call to faithful fellowship with and fruitful following of our Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a call to zealous repentance (19) by faith, to fight hard against the anesthetizing influences of our affluent world—to rebuff the world, reject the flesh, and resist the devil. It’s a call to recognize that Jesus is reaching out to you and to me. He’s taking the initiative to deepen our bond with Him, promising to reward us with intimate fellowship.

But the clearest lesson is for us today, I believe, and certainly the one I’d like us to hear [as] the Spirit speaks to [this] churches (22): tell yourself the truth, about who you are, what you love, how you live. Just tell yourself the truth! Seek God’s grace to enable you to see your own heart and don’t try to white-wash what He shows you. Don’t try to defend it. Don’t try to excuse it. Don’t try to deny it. Just repent and return! If Jesus is about to spit you out, don’t try to prove that you’re really not all that distasteful to Him!

And don’t pull away because this word from Jesus sounds heavy or disheartening. It isn’t! 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. If a friend were driving full-speed toward a washed-out bridge, you’d shout loudly and wave wildly to stop him! That’s loving him! And that’s what Jesus is doing here. He’s disciplining those He loves, those who claim to be God’s children but aren’t proving it by the way they live. They may be fooling themselves, and they need to respond, to repent, before it’s too late!

Friends, hear what the Spirit says to the churches today. Turn your back on this world and zealously run to Jesus. For all who believe, He has provided all that’s needed for you to do that. He’s given it all in His body on the cross. Let’s repent and remember His death as we prepare to live in light of it today, and through this week.

 ______________

Resources

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Barclay, William. 1976. The Daily Study Bible. The Revelation of John: Revised, 2 vols. Louisville: Westminster John Knox.

Beale, G. K., and D. A. Carson, eds. 2007. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Revelation, by G. K. Beale and Sean M. McDonough, 1081-1161. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic.

Beale, G. K., with David H. Campbell. 2015. Revelation: A Shorter Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Black, Matthew, NT ed. 1974. The New Century Bible Commentary. Revelation, by G. R. Beasley-Murray. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Bruce, F. F., ed. 1986. The International Bible Commentary, Revised Edition. Revelation, by F. F. Bruce, 1593-1629. Basingstoke, Eng.: Marshall, Morgan, and Scott.

                  , ed. 1977. The New International Commentary on the New Testament. The Book of Revelation, by Robert H. Mounce. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Carson, D. A. 1995. Personal Notes from 20-Part Lecture Series on Revelation. Waukesha, WI: Elmbrook Church.

                  , R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Revelation, by George R. Beasley-Murray, 1421-1455. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.

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Hendriksen, William. 1940. More than Conquerors. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Ladd, George Eldon. 1972. A Commentary on the Revelation of John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Longman III, Tremper, and David E. Garland, eds. 2010. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9, Matthew-Mark. Matthew, by D. A. Carson, 23-670. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

                  , eds. 1981. Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 13, Hebrews-Revelation. Revelation, by Alan F. Johnson, 571-789. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

MacArthur, John. 1999. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Revelation, 2 vols. Chicago: Moody.

Marshall, I. Howard, and Donald A. Hagner, eds. 1999. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. The Book of Revelation, by G. K. Beale. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Morris, Leon, ed. 1987. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Vol. 20, Revelation, by Leon Morris. Downers Grove: InterVarsity.

Walvoord, John F. 1966. The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chicago: Moody.

                  , and Roy B. Zuck, eds. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Revelation, by John F. Walvoord, 925-991. Wheaton: Victor.

NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: John 15, Ray Glinski