Rich Church / Laodocia

Pray.

Good Friday

OPENING PRAYER! LEt’s remember who we pray too, and how we ought to Pray.

Stephen Charnock 1680

God is a Spirit infinitely happy, therefore we must approach him with cheerfulness; he is a Spirit of infinite majesty, therefore we must come before him with reverence; he is a Spirit infinitely high, therefore we must offer up our sacrifices with the deepest humility; he is a Spirit infinitely holy, therefore we must address with purity; he is a Spirit infinitely glorious, we must therefore acknowledge his excellency in all that we do, and in our measures contribute to his glory, by having the highest aims in his worship; he is a Spirit infinitely provoked by us, therefore we must offer up our worship in the name of a pacifying mediator and intercessor.

Re 3:14–22.

To the Church in Laodicea 14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation. 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. 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. 18 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. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 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. 21 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 on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

THE RICH CHURCH

Laodicea was a wealthy city, perhaps the wealthiest in all of Phrygia. It was so wealthy that following a devastating earthquake in 60 a.d. the city rebuilt itself without financial aid from Rome

What made it wealthy? ” It was a city known not simply for its monetary success (it was a banking center) but for its linen and wool industry (especially black sheep!) as well as its medical school

They were Self-confident, self-sufficient and TO them JESUS SAYS, BUY FROM ME, as if they were in need.

(1) moral and religious lukewarmness _ LACK OF ZEAL. (vv. 15–16), and prideful self-sufficiency (v. 17).

HOT or COLD?

It is important to be aware of the fact that Laodicea was only six miles south of Hierapolis and eleven miles west of Colossae. These three cities were the most important of all in the Lycus Valley. Laodicea itself lacked a natural water supply and was dependent on its neighbors for this vital resource.

THIS IS ABOUT FRUIT, what they produced as a church did not taste GOOD.

“The church boasted that it was healthy and prosperous. The Greek of this verse literally rendered is, ‘I am rich and I have gotten riches.’ Not only did the church boast in her supposed spiritual well-being; she boasted that she had acquired her wealth by her own efforts. Spiritual complacency was accompanied by spiritual pride. No doubt part of her problem was the inability to distinguish between material and spiritual prosperity. The church that is prosperous materially and outwardly can easily fall into the self-deception that her outward prosperity is the measure of her spiritual prosperity.… [The church] is in reality like a blind beggar, destitute, clad in rags” (66).

Sam Storms, Biblical Studies: The Seven Letters of Revelation (Edmond, OK: Sam Storms, 2016), Re 3:14–17.

Better to be Materially poor and regarded as weak than to be Materially wealthy and poor in the eyes of God. 

Vs. 18-20

How Can we BUY from God?

“Gold” = Spiritual wealth, often the result of refining by the fires of suffering (cf. Job 23:10; Prov. 27:21; Mal. 3:2–3; 1 Pt. 1:6–9). By the way, there is obvious paradox here, for how can “poor” people purchase a commodity as expensive as gold? Cf. Isa. 55:1–2.

“White garments” = Works of righteousness which were so lacking in Laodicea (“uncovering the shame of nakedness” is “language often used in the OT when God accused Israel of participation in idolatry: see Isa. 43:3; Ezek. 16:36; 23:29; Nahum 3:5). One can hardly miss the contrast no doubt intended here between the famous and profitable “black” wool from the sheep in Laodicea and the “white” woolen garments essential to their spiritual lives.

“Eyesalve” = restoration of their spiritual vision. The founder of the medical school at Laodicea was a famous ophthalmologist named Demosthenes Philalethes.

Sam Storms, Biblical Studies: The Seven Letters of Revelation (Edmond, OK: Sam Storms, 2016), Re 3:18–20.

John BUNYAN.

To Be Rid of a Hard Heart, Meditate on the Cross

Zechariah 12:10;

Him Whom They Have Pierced 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn

1 Peter 2:22–24

 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Preaching Themes: Death of Jesus, Reverence If you would be rid of a hard heart, that great enemy to the growth of the grace of fear, be much with Christ upon the cross in your meditations, for that is an excellent remedy against hardness of heart. A right sight of him, as he hanged there for your sins, will dissolve your heart into tears, and make it soft and tender.