Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church (Part 1)

Introduction

Grace Community Church

www.gracecommunity.com

I’ll never forget it. I was a young boy eating at a Shoney’s with my dad. I loved going to the buffet and he loved taking me because like most young teenage boys, I had a hollow leg. I though I found the jackpot as I scooped up some fluffy white goo. It was my whipped cream dream right there in the middle of the buffet. The shock on my face and the resulting gag made my dad laugh out loud, when I realized after shoveling a spoonful in my mouth that what I had really found was sour cream. Have you ever grabbed a drink of water only to find out it was Sprite. The mother of all stories for me was when my friend and I were sitting on my porch talking. We were finishing up and I hastily grabbed one last dink of southern sweet tea from the cup before taking the dishes inside. To my stomach’s dismay, I grabbed his cup of chewing tobacco spit. I think I turn green just talking about it.

That is the response from our Lord Jesus when he thinks about a church who is essentially dead spiritually. It’s not that the church has lost its zeal. The church has denied Christ’s divine authority and the authority of his word. Christ may be in the name, but he is certainly not in the church. It is about as refreshing a drinking your friend’s tobacco spit. They are affluent, wealthy, apathetic, self-focused, and spiritually dead.

It is easy to see how they, of the 7 churches in Revelation, are also the best fit to describe our time. We are full of material affluence with little zeal for the gospel. We are more concerned with worship styles, experiences, environments, comforts, and messages more geared toward self-improvement, self-happiness, and entertainment. It didn’t happen overnight. There’s a progression here:

Ephesus: Doctrinally pure, but lost its first love

Smyrna: Withstanding intense pursecution

Pergamum: Holding fast in persecution, false teaching and immorality

Thyatira: Some love and works, false teaching and immorality

Sardis: Faithful remnant but mostly hypocrisy

Philadelphia: Good works and faithfulness

Laodicea: Nothing good, pride, materialism, laziness

English Standard Version Chapter 3

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 Church in Laodicea

Laodicea, like the other 6 churches is located on a postal and trade route through Asia Minor. It is a sister to two other churches in the Lycus valley along with Hierapolis and Colosse. It was located about 10 miles from Colosse which is the recipient church of Paul’s letter to the church there. It’s in your Bible as the book of Colossians. Interestingly, Paul mentions Laodicea in Colossians. Colossians is a letter as an answer to those who deny the deity of Jesus. Apparently whatever was happening in Colosse was also happening in Laodicea and visa versa.

English Standard Version Chapter 4

16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

There are a couple of other things we need to understand about Laodicea. It was a very wealthy city. When the region was hit by a great earthquake in AD 60, the city was virtually destroyed. They rejected all offers for the Roman Empire to help rebuild and instead used their own money to rebuild into a gorgeous town.

It also had a renowned medical school that was known for the development of eye salve to treat blindness. There was a wool industry there where they made beautiful black wool. Their wealth was from their banking. They were the wall street of Asia. Lastly they were known for their awful water.

Jesus Commendation to the Church in Laodicea

English Standard Version Chapter 3

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:

The words of the Amen. Amen is a word of strong affirmation. It is used for declaration. Jesus would use it many times to say what I am telling you is truth or ‘verily, verily I tell you...’ (i.e. Matthew 5:18) or it is used at the conclusion of a statement or someone’s statement - Amen! It is a declaration of truth. Jesus identifies himself as THE Amen of God the Father. Jesus is the Amen of all of God’s promises, covenants, prophesies, truths, redemptions, grace, judgement, and he himself as the amen.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

When we realize that “Amen” and “Yes” mean the same thing, here’s what the verse says: In Jesus Christ, God says his Yes to us through his promises; and in Christ we say our Yes to God through prayer.

English Standard Version Chapter 10

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

He is the Amen. The Amen to our mercy. The amen to our forgiveness. The Amen to our salvation. The Amen to our eternity. There is a reason Jesus tells believers to hold fast. We are not and cannot be self-sufficient.

The second identifier of Jesus is a ‘faithful and true witness.’ In him is all truth. His word.

Lastly he is the beginning of God’s creation. What does he mean. The better translation of this word protoseas is “the starting point or source.” He was not the first point of creation, he was there at the start of creation and the origin or premier of creation. He is divine and the creator.

Notice there is no commendation. He simply says, “I know your works.” The people were probably timid in their witness, unmotivated about prayer, indifferent to the sick and imprisoned, and self-centered in their hoarding of money. They were the kind of people who believed that one should not be “fanatical” about religion, but in reality lacked the wholeheartedness that alone pleases the Lord. The problem that Jesus notes in Laodicea was not persecution, gross sin, or false teaching. In terms of its circumstances, it seems, Laodicea was singularly blessed. But It was a spiritually apathetic church. They probably believed the right things, but those truths did not affect them deeply. When it came to Jesus, they were believers, but only lukewarmly so.

Jesus’ Correction to the Church in Laodicea

English Standard Version Chapter 3

15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

First notice that there is no commendation from Jesus to the Laodicean Church. It simply, “I know your works.” In fact, there not even an explicit rebuke. There is not a statement that says, I know you are dwelling in Satan’s throne. I know you are enduring persecution. Nor is there a message of correction of false teaching or morality issues. It was a spiritually apathetic church.

There was neither a spiritual fervor for Jesus and his word nor something that required Jesus’ correction. For a church like Pergamum or Thyatira, sure there were serious issues that needed to be addressed, but at least they were doing something. Not in Laodicea. It was this kind of spiritual apathy that brought disgust to Jesus.

Laodicea had 2 sister cities in the Lychus Valley, Hierapolis and Colosse. Hierapolis was known for their hot springs. People would come to Hierapolis to soak in the hot springs for its healing properties. Colosse, on the other hand, was known for it cold springs. The water there was refreshing and pure.

Laodicea, on the other hand had aweful water. Because of its affluence, the town grew quickly and the two nearby rivers were unable to supply the cities needs for water. So engineers developed a marvelous aqueduct system. It carried water through terra-cotta pipes from almost 5 miles away. The water was stored in a water tower and then fed the water to the houses under the streets through pipes. The water however tasted terrible and was described as brackish. You can still find remnants of the pipes today were Laodicea one stone. There are deposits of calcium chloride which almost clog the pipes. It tasted awful, it was warm, and it made people sick. So we have a wealthy, self-sufficient, apathetic city with a modern water system that carried water that made people sick.

This is a good description of the church today. We can have all the major systems and programs and abundance, but we forget these aren’t the goal. These things alone are lukewarm. We get things just the way we feel comfortable that we forget that comfort isn’t our goal. The goals that God has for us are arrested and handcuffed by status quo! We’ve learned as much about God as we think we need to learn. We are happy and content just to be left alone going thorough the motions week after week.

Why take any risk? This is the heart of the parable of the talents, isn’t it. One is commended for taking 1 talent and turning it into 100, another for turning it into 10. But the one who did nothing,

English Standard Version Chapter 25

Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest.

The church is a body of leaders. We are to be the leaders of our culture and community. “If you haven’t had a major fail in your career — face-plant level — you aren’t trying hard enough.” (Sally Krawckeck, CEO of Ellevate)

“Fear of failure will often drive you to stop taking risks. Remember, failure is not an option if you want to be innovative. It’s a necessity. If you aren’t failing every now and then, maybe you are playing it too safe.” Craig Groeschel.

The lukewarm church is self-focused. We have little need for change or taking any risk that would jeopardize the way we like things. The lukewarm church argues with each other about petty things. They become so wrapped up in their predictable service and their traditions that their was no room left for Gods blessing. So Jesus declares, I have no use for you!

Jesus’ Disgust of the Church in Laodicea

English Standard Version Chapter 3

16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

The result of Laodicea’s apathy is disgust from Jesus. We don’t always think of Jesus as being disgusted. We like the warm and fuzzy Jesus walking barefoot through a meadow carrying a little lamb. This isn’t what Jesus is conveying here. Remember, these are the words of our Lord to an apathetic church.

Their apathy, Jesus says to Laodicea, is to cause him to spit them out of his mouth. The word here for spit can also be translated vomit.It is a term that carries vulgar connotations. Like someone who just took a gulp of his friend’s tobacco spit. The other places in the NT where this is used is when Jesus used his spit in the mud to heal the blind man. There some connection here we’ll cover next week. The other places is referring to the when Jesus was when the Romans and Religious leaders spit on Jesus as he was being flogged.

I don’t ever want to be a person that turns God’s stomach. I don’t ever want us to be a church that turns God’s stomach. I want us to be cold and refreshing, like a glass of cold ice water on a hot day or a hot spring that sooths the joints. But I don’t think we quite either on here and that concerns me. Where’s our zeal? Where’s our passion for the Great Commission to see our community come to know Jesus. Where is the hunger to see the lost to be found?

Today is Father’s day. I want to challenge us church to invest in our young men. Father’s become the spiritual leader your sons and daughters deserve. It is never too late. Church, I want to challenge us to start mentoring our young people, especially our boys and teens. If we have boys that do not have a Father figure, then you take the mantle. Father’s it is time to repent of your apathy toward our family and reject all the vices that are holding your family down spiritually.

As we will see next week, Jesus reproves those he loves so he asks us to kindle our zeal with repentance. I don’t know who here today needs confess before God that they have allowed their faith to become lukewarm, but if he’s knocking on your heart, I want you to kneel before him in worship this morning and ask God to fan the flames again. All this past week God has been speaking to me and he has shown me that I have allowed situations and comments from others to steal my zeal and my enthusiasm for what he wants me to do.

I believe this is a great church intended to do great things. I believe there are opportunities before us to grasp and talents to invest if we will take the risk. So before we worship and I invite you to repent, I want to go before you. I repent that my vision and zeal for the Great Commission is becoming lukewarm. That I am listening to the negative voices and not the voice of our Lord. I’ll be at the front here worshipping. For all who need to repent with me and wish to see GCC move forward in the passion and strength of the Holy Spirit, you are welcome to join me up here.

Take it to the Cross

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