Revelation 3:14

Revelation 3:14

Imagine a doctor being lukewarm about disease. You feel sick, so you drag yourself along to his office. He feels your pulse, takes your temperature, and tells you to pay the nurse on the way out. You say, “Well, just a minute, what’s wrong with me, doctor?” He looks up from the papers on his desk and says, “What’s wrong with you? Oh, there’s nothing to worry about. You’ve got a bad case of bubonic plague.” You look at him in astonishment and say, “But aren’t you going to give me an injection or put me in the hospital? People don’t just walk around with bubonic plague, do they? It’s catching, isn’t it? What about my family? What about all those people in your waiting room? What about me? People die of bubonic plague, don’t they?” The doctor just looks at you mildly and says, “That’s all right, my friend. You have to die sometime. It might just as well be of bubonic plague as cancer or a coronary. Diseases don’t interest me too much. Now, if you needed surgery, well, that’s more my line.” Imagine a doctor lukewarm about disease! Imagine a church lukewarm about Christ! It makes as much sense.

Sadly, this was the case with the church of Laodicea. The church had as about as much excitement as a chess tournament. They were just there, and there was no real interest, they had let their relationship with Christ, become like a workplace relationship where it really had no importance to them. Now we may look at this passage and read about this church, and gasp at the idea that someone, and especially a church can be like that, but brothers and sisters, there are a lot of churches like that. And we don’t need to become so high minded to think that it can’t happen here.

Verse 14

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;”

· As the Lord prepares to speak, he addressment to this church is different as compared to the rest of the churches. Notice how he has John write this letter.

o “Church of the Laodiceans” as we have seen in the other letters, the addressment was to the church in “such city”. In this particular arrangement, it was if to say that the church at Laodicea was none of His, it was theirs. It was the church of the Laodiceans.

· Now let us learn about this particular church.

· As the name suggests, the church was located in the city of Laodicea, which was a city built by Antiochus the Second, and named after wife Laodice; whom he divorced and who later poisoned him).

· This city was an independent and wealthy city where wool was a major source of commerce, along with the making of an eye salve from the powder of a local stone. It was also a banking center for the province of Asia Minor, and also a site for gold exchange.

· The city was destroyed in 60 AD and was offered to be rebuilt by Rome, but the people declined because they said they were wealthy enough to restore their own city.

· From ancient documents, in 363 AD, the Laodicea Church was the location chosen for a significant church council, so perhaps the church changed course after the letter they received from the Lord.

· It is at this point the Jesus begins to identify himself to the congregation.

“These things saith the Amen”

· We have come to say the word “amen” when we pray, we use it to agree with the preacher, and now we use it to identify as one of the names for Jesus.

· Amen means “so be it”, and it should be a word that we commonly use as a Christian. That the will of the Lord be done.

· Jesus is God’s Amen to all man’s needs.

· Nine times this word is used in Revelation alone, and should serve as a reminder that Amen is praying for the will of the Lord.

· In the last two verses of Revelation, amen is written twice, and as God closes the book, nothing more is said, because in Christ all has been said.

· It is with the Amen, that we realize where our hope rest, and that is Jesus Christ.

“The faithful and true witness”

· The next word that the Lord uses here to describe himself, is faithful. Now can’t we say that our Lord is faithful?

· Think how the Lord has come through for you, how he has always been there, how he has never forsook us, or forgot us. Jesus Christ is faithful!

· Here he shares with the Laodiceans that he is a faithful witness. He will be there, he sees it and will be present to testify of it.

· As the faithful witness, we can know that Jesus will not dilute the truth. He will remain faithful and not leave out the details.

· Just as a witness may see an accident, the details may be left out and forgotten. This is not so with Jesus, with Jesus all will be accounted. Now what is the Lord the faithful witness of? Of our lives!

· Listen, Jesus is observant of our lives and he knows what we are about. Just like he knew what the church of Laodicea was about, there is no put on. Jesus knows and is faithful in knowing our integrity.

· The Lord is the faithful witness, meaning he is not going to accuse us of false information, he has seen it for himself, and is faithful to the integrity of it.

· He is the true witness, meaning that he will not distort the truth. Jesus is not a liar, and he will not change the details. He sees through all the sham, shallowness and show of our lives.

· Many people spend their lives hiding behind disguises, but Jesus can penetrate disguises and see us for who we really are.

· We have a hard time with the truth, if given to us without softness, we see truth as rude and uncaring. For instance:

o William’s Truthful Christmas. It begins with William in church listening halfheartedly to the sermon, until his attention is caught and his imagination is fired by a challenge to “cast aside all deceit and hypocrisy and speak the truth in love.” William determines to give it a try over Christmas. The Brown family are to spend Christmas with Uncle Frederick and Aunt Emma. On Christmas day, William opens his presents in his bedroom and is immediately disillusioned by the uninspiring presents he receives—a pen and pencil, a ruler, an (empty) purse, a tie, a brush and comb, and (the crowning insult) a book on church history. William goes downstairs. Aunt Emma asks him if he likes the book on history. Determined to tell the truth at all costs, William, to the horror of his family, says, “No!” His family accuses him of rudeness and remains unimpressed by his efforts to speak the truth and to cast aside hypocrisy. The atmosphere brightens when William produces his presents for his aunt and uncle. Aunt Emma thanks William for being so kind. William says he is not being kind; he is giving her a present because his mother said he had to. His aunt somewhat coldly professes gratitude for the pin cushion he has given her. William doggedly explains that he had not spent any money on the gift. It had been left over, he says, from a rummage sale, and his mother had said he might as well give it as a present since it was faded and would not be worth keeping for a later bazaar! His uncle, in the meantime, holds up a leather purse. With an effort at joviality, he thanks William and says, “This is a really useful present.” Treading the path of truth, William explains that it is not really useful. His Uncle Jim had sent it to William’s father for his birthday, but since the catch would not work. Williams father had given it to William to give to Uncle Frederick. The denouement comes later in the day when William’s uncle and aunt receive a visit from Lady Atkinson, a domineering and haughty member of the aristocracy. With great condescension she presents William’s relatives with a picture of herself. Then, turning to William, she demands that he examine the picture. “Don’t you think it’s very like me?” she crows. William’s final offering at the altar of truth is, “It’s not as fat as you are!”

o We could not stand being told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Society has invented a thousand ways of conveniently blunting the sharp edge of truth.[1]

· This church is about to hear the truth from the faithful witness, what is about to be said may be hard to hear, but it needs to be said for the people to be aware of their complacency.

“The beginning of the creation of God”

· The speaker of this letter, is none other than the one who created the world, the one who put the sun, moon and stars into the sky, the one who is the origin of the creation. It is Jesus who made this world and it is he that stands before this church.

· The letter to the Laodiceans is not mere words from someone, it is the Words of God and words that must be heeded. Why else did the Lord take such measures in identifying who he was?

· I’ll tell you why, this church had forgotten who God was. They had become so dull, that they wouldn’t have recognized Jesus if he was sitting in one of their pews. Their lack of excitement, their lack of joy, their lack for anything of the Lord had shown, and now Jesus comes to make them aware of what he has seen.

[1] Phillips, J. (2009). Exploring Revelation: An Expository Commentary (Re 3:14b). Kregel; WORDsearch Corp.