Revelation Chapter 3c

14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 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: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

The name Laodicea means “people ruling” or “judgment of the people”

The church was a prosperous commercial and administrative center in the Roman Empire

It was the richest city in its district, and when the city was destroyed in 60 AD, it refused to accept Imperial aid

Refusing such aid was unheard of since the cost to rebuild was usually beyond the reach of a city's own resources

But Laodicea was so wealthy, it could fund the work itself

The desire to do so was a reflection of their desire to remain independent of Roman authority and its self-sufficiency

Among its many industries, three stand out historically

Laodicea was known for banks, linen and woolen industry and a medical school

The banks held the money of the district and profited greatly from the income

The woolen industry produced some of the finest wool cloth, and it was particularly known for a rare black wool

The medical school also contributed to the commerce of the city, selling a well-renowned eye salve for various eye diseases

Looking at the letter, the description of Christ takes the phrase “faithful and true Witness” from John's first chapter

Jesus also describes Himself as the Beginning of creation, which is a reference to the Alpha and Omega in Chapter 1

Why this reference?

As we'll see in a minute, a testimony of Jesus' truth and of Creation are both an essential to understanding this church

Jesus' comments to the church again begins looking at their works

He says He knows their deeds, that they are neither hot nor cold

In earlier letters Jesus was concerned with the number or quality of their deeds because of how those deeds reflected on Jesus

But notice this time Jesus' concerns are for how the deeds reflect upon the people themselves

Notice Jesus says in v.15 that “you” are neither hot or cold, though He wishes they were either hot or cold

Instead, they sit between these two conditions in a lukewarm state

And as a result, Jesus says Hey will spit them out of His mouth

The more literal way to translate Jesus' words would be to say I will “vomit” you out, so it's not a gentle word

Jesus' choice of words puzzles us a little…what does it mean to be hot and cold in this context?

And making it harder, Jesus says He prefers either hot or cold to their current condition of lukewarm

We don't see a solution in the immediate verse, so we keep moving to get more context

Then in v.17 we get the context we need to understand Jesus' concern

Jesus admonishes them for seeing themselves as rich and in need of nothing, which was a false view of their situation

In reality, the church in Laodicea was wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked

Immediately we realize that Jesus' words were not to be taken in a literal sense

First, we know the church in Laodicea was actually quite prosperous, not poor

And we know the believers living in Laodicea were not universally blind, and they did not walk around naked at all times

Much less did the church think it was clothed while actually naked, etc.

Therefore, we must understand that Jesus was not speaking about their church's literal, physical condition

Instead, Jesus is speaking of their spiritual condition

Spiritually speaking, Jesus says the church was wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked

What do these terms mean when used to refer to spiritual conditions?

A quick study of the other passages in the Bible gives us only one conclusion

First, we remember what nakedness means, because we saw that earlier: lacking Christ's atoning covering

And similarly to be poor or wretched or blind, all stand for the condition of a person before faith:

Blindness pictures the inability to see spiritual truth

Wretchedness refers to the unclean spiritual state of an unbeliever

And spiritual poverty refers to the failure to share in riches of Christ in the Kingdom

So the church of Laodicea is condemned by Jesus for a state of unbelief, yet they tell themselves they have everything they need

They are wealthy and in need of nothing, and unlike Jesus, this church isn't speaking in purely spiritual terms

The church in Laodicea was very wealthy like the whole of that city, and as such it lived a very luxurious lifestyle

That was particularly out of keeping with other churches of the day

Yet their physical prosperity blinded them to their spiritual poverty

Even as they lived self-satisfied and secure in their earthly wealth, yet they remain in jeopardy of spiritual judgment

And at this point we ask how can a “Church” be unbelieving?

And the answer comes from a broader understanding of the church as a whole

From an earthly perspective there was an institution in the city of Laodicea called the church

People met in buildings, sang songs, prayed and conducted other services

And to anyone who observed these things, they would say “there is the church of Laodicea”

But from a spiritual perspective, that building full of people actually consisted of two different groups

There were believers in the room and unbelievers

The true believer is the one who has been indwelled by the Holy Spirit, according to Romans 8

But the Spirit is invisible for we can't see who has the Spirit and who doesn't

And outward signs are tricky…it's easy for someone to imitate what they see Christians doing and fool us into thinking they believe too

So Jesus writes to this church talking about unbelief because apparently there was a large contingency of unbelievers congregating within

Such that Jesus' chief concern with the body as a whole was this rise of unbelief

The presence of unrecognized unbelief in the body is the single most dangerous problem any church can have

Christians are naturally wary of the influence of satanists or other non Christians

But we naturally lower our guard when someone says they are Christians like us

And yet if it turns out they aren't truly saved, we have now allowed a wolf in sheep's clothing into the church body

And that is a terrible situation for both sides

For the believers in the church, the influence of unbelievers in the body leads to apostasy and compromise

For the unbeliever, living side-by-side with believers leads to a false sense of security

Now we see what Jesus meant when He said He would rather the church be hot or cold

Hot suggests a believer, while cold, suggests the opposite, an unbeliever

We understand why Jesus wants someone to be hot (believing) but why would he also prefer cold (unbelieving)

The key is to remember that Jesus says He prefers either of these two states to lukewarm

In other words, it's better to be cold (an acknowledged unbeliever) than to be lukewarm, thinking you're a believer when actually not

At least if someone is an acknowledged unbeliever they might be yet converted one day

But the lukewarm church goer doesn't even realize what they don't have

This is where you get those who declare to Jesus

Matthew 7:21–23 KJV 1900

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Or as Jesus says here, those who are in the church but do not belong to Jesus by faith will be spit out, or vomited out of His mouth

The city of Laodicea was situated in a valley surrounded by mountains, with two streams of mountain waters flowing into a valley at Laodicea

One stream of cold and refreshing water came from the southeast near a place called Denizil

A second source was a hot spring near Herapolis that produced an undrinkable sulfuric water used for medicinal baths

In Laodicea, the two streams combined, producing a foul tasting lukewarm water

Drinking that water would result in vomiting, since it was poisonous

When Jesus says that He would vomit them out of His mouth, they understood the meaning clearly

Not surprisingly, there is no commendation to this church (the only church with nothing positive said), and in v.18 Jesus gives an exhortation to this church

Each recommendation is a spiritual remedy to cure the heart condition of the church

First, Jesus advises them to purchase (obtain) from Christ gold refined by fire so they might become rich

Gold refined by fire pictures our eternal treasure which Christ qualifies us to receive

Secondly, they should buy white garments to clothe themselves

Once again the garments refers to the robes worn by believers which picture Christ's atoning work

They are naked spiritually, meaning unbelieving, in contrast to the believer with insufficient works who had “soiled” robes

So this too is an allusion to placing faith in Jesus

Finally, they need eye salve to see, and seeing in spiritual terms means to come to a knowledge of God's truth

Each of these remedies draw from the major industries in the city

Jesus is emphasizing how this church relies on its worldly prosperity as its measure of worth

But it's using the wrong measure…it should have been looking to Heaven for its measure of success

Jesus gives the church an exhortation, a challenge to change and repent

He says the ones who are truly the Lord's will know reproof, correction and discipline

Which is a way of saying that luxurious, easy, safe living isn't the standard for successful Christian living

Instead, the course that gives us the most reassurance is one of training and conviction

Hebrews 12:6–7 KJV 1900

6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?

Hebrews 12:11 KJV 1900

11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Following the exhortation, in v.20 Jesus calls this church to faith in Him

Those who hear His voice and open the door (of their heart) may receive Him and possess what they have been missing

And for those who do so, salvation awaits, pictured by dining at the table with Jesus in the Kingdom

Finally, for those who were of faith, the overcomers, Jesus says I will extend the great privilege of ruling with me in the Kingdom

So that even in this church of unbelief, true belief still existed and would still endure

No matter how lost this church became, the true believer was always in Christ's care

By now, it should be obvious that the seventh church will be the last period in the Church age, the times that “are”

And it should be equally obvious that this is the age we live in now, which I call the Apostate Church

Apostasy means to fall away, to abandon something that was previous accepted

We're talking about the church overall changing from that of predominantly believing to predominantly unbelieving

So earlier the church was Philadelphia, a faithful, believing church

But now it has fallen away from the Lord and His word and is no longer a believing church

As an institution, it is apostate having left the truth

Paul taught that this falling away or apostasy within the church would mark the last days of the age

1 Timothy 4:1–3 KJV 1900

1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

It comes because of the doctrines of demons (false teaching) spread by deceitful spirits, indwelling liars, is seared in their conscience

These are false teachers who are influenced by demons to say what they say and lead the church astray

This is exactly Jesus' concern for a lukewarm church: unbelievers masquerading as believers to introduce false teaching

One of the signs of the end of the age and the apostasy is the trend to advocate abstaining from certain foods

The key issue here is the wealth of the church in the last days

Like Laodicea, the Apostate Church has so much wealth that people can afford to be picky eaters

And in that pickiness, the enemy takes advantage and begins to assign spiritual meaning to food, making it a false god

While we shrug our shoulders at this concern, wondering what's the big deal, that in itself tells us we are Laodicea

The luxury of being picky in our food selection is a modern phenomenon of wealthy cultures

Never before in history has such pickiness been possible for the church as a whole, but it is today

So this detail is meaningful for how it points us to our day and no other day in history

Paul gives us more detail about the apostate church in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 3:1–5 KJV 1900

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

These traits have existed in the world to varying degrees from the time of Cain

But Paul says the last days will be known for these things

Simply put, they no longer become the exception, they become the rule

And looking through the list, it's hard to imagine a world dominated by these traits…or is it? This is our world!

The last days, the time of the Apostate Church, will also (not coincidentally) be an age of excess and brutality and perversion

And what brought these things to pass? Where did the church go so wrong?

Paul alludes to the cause in 2 Timothy again

2 Timothy 4:1–4 KJV 1900

1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Myths and doctrines of demons brought about this falling away in the church, but what are these false teachings specifically?

The clue is found in the way Jesus addressed the Laodicean church in the beginning

Jesus said He was the beginning and end of Creation the True witness

Jesus is referring to two important, bedrock beliefs of His Church that were lost at the end of the last century

The transition from the Missionary church to the Apostate church began principally as a result of two movements

First, the end of the 19th century brought the arrival of Biblical criticism

This movement began in Germany with the teaching that Scripture was not inerrant

On the contrary, scholars argued that the Bible must be understood as an imperfect work of men

Therefore, it must be interpreted loosely and without regard for historical views, and in fact its literal meaning was not important

These schools taught men to question the authorship of books of the Bible, and other details long before accepted as truth

In the U.S., seminaries began to interpret Biblical doctrines in light of natural laws and human reason and scientific discovery

These new thoughts caused divisions and disagreements in the church

And at that point, compromises were made to doctrine because unity was considered more important than fighting for the truth

Quickly, pulpits were filled with pastors trained at these “progressive” seminaries, leading to the disappearance of orthodox Biblical teaching

The trends continues today and has only worsened in the past decades

Now humanistic principles, self-help and pop psychology is preached in place of God's word

Jesus refers to this trend in declaring Himself to Laodicea to be the faithful and true Witness

He is the truth and He witnesses to the Father

Secondly, the rise of Evolution in the 20th century weakened confidence and reliance on scripture in many denominations and their congregations

As Peter promised in 2 Peter 3, people began to reject the biblical account of Creation

A worldwide belief in a fairytale called Evolution which directly contradicted Scripture gave fuel to doubt in the Bible

It was all the easier to claim that the Bible wasn't to be taken literally than to fight the world's belief in Darwin

And when the Bible can't be trusted for how it say things began, then it can't be trusted for how it says it will end

And without a beginning nor an end to worry about, life becomes only about the here and now

And God and His word becomes an afterthought

Because the Church left behind the True witness of God's word and the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of Creation, it left behind Jesus

And in leaving Jesus, the last days church becomes an apostate human institution void of true faith in many corners

Interestingly, the name Laodicea means people ruling, and it's a reference to our time in two ways

First, it's a reference to democracy, the dominate form of government in the last days – a clear marker of our times

And secondly, it refers to the hearts of people ruling themselves rather than being ruled by Christ, another clear marker

The Apostate Church runs from the beginning of the 20th century and is still ongoing…but for how much longer?

I want to go back to a verse I mentioned today and so relevant

2 Timothy 4:3 KJV 1900

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

Several years I was talking to someone and they appeared to be a

little irritated. They had just recently went to get an oil change.

They chose to go have it done at a particular establishment based

on a coupon that advertised an oil change for $17.99. When it was

time to pay the bill the coupon was used and the total came up to

around $28. This obviously did not make the individual happy.

When they looked at the bill, they were charged for an additional

quart of oil, shop supplies and taxes, thus the reason for the extra

charges. The individual had felt deceived and felt they we running

a deceptive business. So I asked if I could see the coupon that was

used.

When I looked at it I saw in big letters "Oil Change", and in

even bigger letters yet "$17.99". Then I looked at the bottom of

the coupon and in small fine print, it said "for the first 5 quarts

only. Does not include shop supplies and taxes".

So it turns out that they were truthful what that price was based on, but did not make it obvious nor without any obscurity. So when you use coupons always read the fine print, it will save you some frustration at the checkout counter.

Sometimes what appears to be the truth on surface can be a snare to lure you into trap that is meant to destroy you.

Tell some true to trust

Once trust, you can deceive

Satan is very crafty at his approach

Genesis 3:1 KJV 1900

1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made...

not coming with pitchfork

he will build trust, then twist the truth

sow doubt

then the death grip

Be careful with your itching ears

itching is an annoyance

we seek to relieve it

Don’t seek relief from the Bible that bothers you

you can find it

books

internet

social media

Hold firm

2 Thessalonians 2:15 ESV

15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

Crystal come up

closing statement

Please stand

Final statement

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