Untitled Sermon (3)

Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church

A helicopter was flying toward Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all the aircraft's navigation and communications equipment. Due to the extreme haze that day, the pilot now had no way of determining the course to the airport. All he could make out was a tall building nearby, so he moved closer to it, quickly wrote out a large sign reading "Where am I?" and held it in the chopper's window. Responding quickly, the people in the building penned a large sign of their own. It read: "You are in a helicopter." The pilot smiled, and within minutes he landed safely at the airport. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked how the sign helped him determine their position. "I knew it had to be the Microsoft building," the pilot replied, "because like any computer company's help staff, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer."

Ironically so it is that many people are suffering from the malfunctions of life, disable and unable to communicate with others, experiencing extreme haze, trying to determine a course for life but have instead discovered a dismal, darkened, disarray and when they come to church for instructions, for a sign, for directions attempting to fly forward seeking answers to piloting their lives asking where they are, many of us respond with the words , “they are in a helicopter”, we are completely useless in giving them directions, guidance and a safe-haven for their lives. That was Jesus message to the church at Laodicea,

“You are useless”. Like Sardis they were dead but what made them worse than Sardis was that unlike Sardis that had a hint of life there was nothing in the church remaining to even be strengthen. Pergamum had external issues and Thyatira had internal issues, but Laodicea was the issue. Smyrna was a church that was poor but God said they were rich, Laodicea was a church that was rich but God said that they were poor and though many of the other churches had some strong members and could attribute their trials to something this church was ineffective not because there was persecution not because there was a synagogue, throne or test for and from Satan there but their ineffectiveness solely rested on themselves.

The problem in the church of Laodicea (Lukewarm)

The image of the Laodiceans being “neither cold nor hot” but “lukewarm” has traditionally been understood to be metaphorical of their lack of spiritual fervor and halfhearted commitment to Christ. One problem with this is that Christ’s desire that they be either “cold or hot” implies that both extremes are positive. The traditional view, however, has seen “cold” negatively, the idea apparently being that Jesus either wants the readers to be either zealous (“hot”) for him or completely uncommitted (“cold”), but not middle-of-the-road.251 But it is unlikely that Christ would commend that extreme of complete disloyalty.

So instead of cold meaning outright antagonism to the things of God and hot meaning spiritual fervor and lukewarmness meaning indifference this imagery may allude to the water system at Laodicea. The city had no water supply of its own; it had cold water piped in from Colossae or hot water piped in from the springs at Hierapolis. When the city tried to pipe water in, it could manage only to obtain tepid, emetic water. When the water arrived in the city, it had become lukewarm. Like the water, the church at Laodicea was neither refreshing (like cold water) nor healing (like hot spring water).

The word lukewarm (chliaros) appears only here in the New Testament. The sense “unusable” or “barren” hits the mark. Physicians used lukewarm water to cause vomiting. This church says (habitually, present tense), I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing (contrast Smyrna, where the church was poor materially but rich spiritually, 2:9). Laodicea was a self-reliant city. God gives three examples of their lukewarm nature. First, the church said, I am rich. That is, the church supposed it had such adequate (material) resources that it could do without the Lord’s (spiritual) help. The congregation was like the city, proud of its banks and affluence, boasting that I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. (When the city of Laodicea was devastated by an earthquake in A.D. 60, it recovered without any imperial disaster aid.) This is the opposite of the church in Smyrna, which knew of its material poverty. Christ calls the Laodicean church poor. Second, the church thought it was clothed with plenty of righteous character. The imagery is drawn from what we know of Laodicea, renowned for its extensive textile industry, particularly of black wool fabric. Instead, the Lord understood that it was spiritually wretched, pitiful, … and naked. Third, the church supposed itself to have spiritual insight. Instead it was blind. The city of Laodicea was famous for its medical school that exported a powder used for eye salve. Such medicine could not salve their blind eyes.

This church says (habitually, present tense), I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. Laodicea was a self-reliant city. Three things point to the essence of what made them lukewarm. First, the church said, I am rich. That is, the church supposed it had such adequate (material) resources that it could do without the Lord’s (spiritual) help. The congregation was like the city, proud of its banks and affluence, boasting that I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. (When the city of Laodicea was devastated by an earthquake in A.D. 60, it recovered without any imperial disaster aid.) This is the opposite of the church in Smyrna, which knew of its material poverty. Christ calls the Laodicean church poor. Second, the church thought it was clothed with plenty of righteous character. The imagery is drawn from what we know of Laodicea, renowned for its extensive textile industry, particularly of black wool fabric. Instead, the Lord understood that it was spiritually wretched, pitiful, … and naked. Third, the church supposed itself to have spiritual insight. Instead it was blind. The city of Laodicea was famous for its medical school that exported a powder used for eye salve. Such medicine could not salve their blind eyes.

Transition Scripture: Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore, be zealous and repent. V.19

The answer for the church of Laodicea (zealous and repent)

I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. V.18.

Dwight L. Moody told this story: “A minister was one day moving his library upstairs. As he was going up with a load of books, his little boy came in, very anxious to help his father. So his father just told him to go and get an armful, and bring them upstairs. When the father came back, he met the little fellow about half-way up, tugging away at the biggest book in the library. He couldn’t manage to carry it up. It was too big. So he sat down and cried.

“His father found him, and just took him in his arms, book and all, and carried him upstairs. So Christ will carry you and all your burdens, if you will but let Him.

Tom Gilliam III Pastor of the Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ in revival this week compared repentance to a 180 instead of a 360. Jesus points not only to the direction but the objective of repenting. More than heading in the right direction repentance is seeking to be in right fellowship with God realizing that depart from him there is no help.

He says be zealous which means to be deeply committed to something, with the implication of accompanying desire—‘to be earnest, to set one’s heart on, to be completely intent upon.’ The word is taken from the root word that can mean warm. To be zealous in this context than is to desire to depend on God with all of your heart. Last week I told you about a door an evangelistic door of opportunity, it’s a great and effective door, such a door is seen in the likes of , , . Behold I give you another door , The door of Philadelphia was a door that God opened, the door of Laodicea is a door that is closed, that has to be opened by you, it is the door to your heart, Jesus says I am standing and knocking at the door of your heart and I’m calling out to you to let me in and if you let me in I will come in and dine.

According to the Pew Research Center, 90% of Americans own a phone:

• 67% of cell owners find themselves checking their phone for messages, alerts, or calls — even when they don’t notice their phone ringing or vibrating.

• 44% of cell owners have slept with their phone next to their bed because they wanted to make sure they didn’t miss any calls, text messages, or other updates during the night.

• 29% of cell owners describe their cell phone as “something they can’t imagine living without.”

• Coordinate a meeting or get-together — 41%

• Solve an unexpected problem that they or someone else had encountered — 35%

• Find information to help settle an argument they were having — 27%

• Get up-to-the-minute traffic or public transit information to find the fastest way to get somewhere — 20%

• Get help in an emergency situation — 19%

All this cell phone use equates to the average person checking their phone 150 times per day,

APPLICATION

A recent social media buzz point (author unknown) asked this probing question: What if we began to treat the Lord the way we treat our cell phones?

What if we …

carried it with us everywhere?

turned back to get it if we forgot it?

checked it for messages throughout the day?

used it in case of an emergency?

spent an hour or more using it each day?

I am out of here but I need the Lord when I’m hot I need more fervor to get closer, when I’m cold the realization that I need his salvation but never to be lukewarm enough to believe I can do it by myself, I need the Lord

I need Thee every hour,

Most gracious Lord;

No tender voice like Thine

Can peace afford.

2 I need Thee every hour,

Stay Thou near by;

Temptations lose their power

When Thou art nigh.

3 I need Thee every hour,

In joy or pain;

Come quickly and abide,

Or life is vain.

4 I need Thee every hour,

Teach me Thy will;

And Thy rich promises

In me fulfill.

5 I need Thee every hour,

Most Holy One;

Oh, make me Thine indeed,

Thou blessed Son.