Nauseating Christianity
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever been sea sick? To me it’s one of the worst feelings I’ve ever experienced. When I was a kid my dad and I, along with one of his friends would go deep-sea fishing and sometimes I would get sick as a dog.
You can feel it coming on...you are nauseated and are miserable. Everything you do that you think might help you to feel better only seems to make it worse.
To me, outside of pain, nausea is one of the most horrible feelings I’ve ever had. I HATE feeling nauseated.
I find it interesting that the church that we will look at today, made Jesus feel nauseous. What could do that? How can we avoid the type of Christianity that makes God sick? That’s what we are going to look at today, but before we do let’s explore a little bit about the city of Laodicea...
Scripture Introduction
Scripture Introduction
Like many of the other cities we’ve looked at, Laodicea was located on a major trade route and it was situated near the cities of Hierapolis and Colossae (this will be important later on in the message). It was founded by Antiochus and named after his wife. It came under Roman control 133 BC and was destroyed by an earthquake in AD 60. Rome offered to help them rebuild but they declined the offer and did it themselves...a sign of independence, but also their wealth.
Laodecia was known for its banking and was famous for its glossy black wool that was used for clothing and carpets of the day. It was also known for an eye salve that it produced. The city had a large Jewish population, but was also inundated with idolatry: they had temples for Zeus, Apollo, and other Greek gods. They also practiced emperor worship here as did many of the other surrounding cities.
With all of its successes and wealth the city did have a problem. It didn’t have a fresh water supply, so it had to rely on an aqueduct system to bring it water from Hierapolis and Colossae. The interesting thing about this water supply is that the water from Hierapolis came from “HOT SPRINGS” and the water from Colossae came from “COLD STREAMS.” By the time it arrived in Laodicea it was lukewarm, of poor quality, and often had so many minerals in it, it would cause folks to become nauseous.
Today the city no longer exists and lies in ruins.
Notice what Jesus says to the church here:
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Jesus Loves us Too Much Not to Warn Us about Self-Deception (vv. 14-16)
Jesus Loves us Too Much Not to Warn Us about Self-Deception (vv. 14-16)
These come across as pretty harsh words from our Lord, but we know they come from a place of love. Because He is the FAITHFUL and TRUE witness He speaks the truth and the TRUTH is the church at Laodicea was LUKEWARM. Just like the water supply in the community make people sick, the way the church was living, and acting, and conducting itself, it caused Jesus to want to “vomit them out of His mouth!”
What in the world could have been so bad about them and this situation. Well Revelation 3:17 tells us:
Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
It’s in this verse we notice...
Contributing Factors of the Nausea
Contributing Factors of the Nausea
False Sense of Wealth
False Sense of Wealth
They said they were rich, but Christ says they were poor. While they may have been materially wealthy, they were living in spiritual poverty.
Keep in mind Laodicea was a wealthy city and therefore many of its residents, including those within the church were very well off financially. As a matter of fact they were so well off, after an earthquake destroyed the city in AD 60, they refused Rome’s help to rebuild and they took it upon themselves to do so. In AD 62, twenty-two and 1/2 pounds of gold was given as a offering to the temple in Jerusalem!
What a contrast between this church and the Church at Smyrna. You may remember they thought they were “poor” but God said they were “RICH.” This church says they are rich and God says they are DESTITUTE!
Daniel Akin noted in his commentary:
Smyrna was a rich poor church and Laodicea was a poor rich church. They were blind, shortsighted. They had no vision of God, of their own hearts, of the world’s need. I’d rather be a rich poor Christian than a poor rich Christian! (Repent, 82–83)
If we are not careful our VALUES can become twisted. We begin to EVALUATE things according to culture, rather than Christ. The things we think are important and vital, God often says are unimportant, and the things we deem unimportant may be the most valuable of all!
This sense of riches was fueled by their...
Prideful & Complacent
Prideful & Complacent
They said, “WE HAVE NEED OF NOTHING.”
Jesus said: John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
They were CONCEITED.
A. T. Robertson said:
This church was in a rich city and was rich in pride and conceit, but poor in grace and ignorant of its spiritual poverty
Exclusion of Christ
Exclusion of Christ
Wiersbe said:
Their material wealth and glowing statistics were but shrouds hiding a rotting corpse.
As a result Christ was on the “outside looking in.”
Yet despite this church’s glaring problem, Jesus takes the INITIATIVE to come back in and restore the FELLOWSHIP that has been broken. You find Him knocking on the door of the church.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
This leads us to...
The Cure
The Cure
Seeking Spiritual Wealth (v. 18)
Seeking Spiritual Wealth (v. 18)
Notice again what Jesus says in Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
As we said earlier the church was MONETARILY RICH, but SPIRITUALLY POOR. They have gotten their priorities out of order and have focused on the temporary riches of this world, rather than LAYING UP FOR THEMSELVES TREASURES IN HEAVEN.
What would our church look like today if we all began to pursue LASTING, ETERNAL, SPIRITUAL RICHES instead of being mesmerized and consumed with things that won’t really matter in just a few years.
Remember what the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:18
So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
It is obvious that the church at Laodicea was FOCUSED on the wrong riches!
In their pursuit of temporary wealth, they were most likely also focused on selling the BLACK WOOL that the city of Laodecia was known for. It appears that Jesus may use this focus on temporary riches and the sale of BLACK WOOL to point the church back to the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. He wants them to
Value the Righteousness of Christ
Value the Righteousness of Christ
Notice again Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
No amount of BLACK WOOL, or WHITE WOOL, or any other color of wool would make them have the kind of relationship with God they needed.
THEY NEEDED THE PURE, GLOWING WHITE RIGHTEOUSNESS of the Lord Jesus Christ to cover their spiritual nakedness!
And so do YOU and so do I. There is NOTHING that can cover our shame, there is nothing that can cover our sin, there is nothing that can cover our PAST except for the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Jesus Christ that is received by faith and faith alone!
There is one other thing I want to point your attention to from Revelation 3:18
I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
We need to begin...
Looking Through the Eyes of Christ
Looking Through the Eyes of Christ
One other thing that Laodecia was known for during this time was an eye salve that they made. It was an ointment that seemed to be helpful to combat the harsh conditions of the sand and the sun that people traveled in.
The church at Laodicea had an eye problem as well. They were SPIRITUALLY BLIND but didn’t even realize it! Jesus had the solution to their spiritual blindness but they had to be willing to acknowledge their problem and apply His solution.
Jesus then reminds the church in v. 19, that the reason He has spoken so BLUNTLY is because HE LOVES THEM. Notice Revelation 3:19
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
As I said at the beginning of this message, God loves us too much not to tell us the TRUTH. He loves us too much to allow us to continue to wander in the wrong direction without sending us warning sign after warning sign.
Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son,
and do not loathe his discipline;
for the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.
and one more time He gives the church here an opportunity to REPENT!
True Repentance
True Repentance
They had become INDIFFERENT and LACKADAISICAL to their spiritual needs and condition. Christ calls them to TURN from their INDIFFERENCE!
If they are willing to turn from their INDIFFERENCE and LACKADAISICAL attitude they might quieten themselves long enough to hear a “KNOCK” at the door.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.
Open the Door
Open the Door
Isn’t it interesting that instead of being on the throne of the local church it’s as if He’s on the FRONT PORCH. Their spiritual riches and blindness has CROWDED JESUS RIGHT OUT OF HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE!
We’ve all seen a variety of paintings that demonstrate this scene...Jesus knocking on the door. One of the things about just about all of the versions I’ve seen is that there is no door knob visible on the outside.
The point is YOU ARE THE ONE THAT HAS TO OPEN THE DOOR. JESUS WILL PATIENTLY KNOCK, BUT IT’S UP TO YOU TO OPEN THE DOOR AND INVITE HIM INTO HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN YOUR LIFE.
I wonder how many in this room today sense Jesus knocking on the doors of our hearts, our marriages, our families, our church...
Will we allow the knocking to awaken us to our needs and the reality that Jesus is not where He should be in our lives? Will we respond and open the door
Does your version of Christianity make Jesus nauseous? REPENT today and open the door!
Salvation
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