The Complacent Church

INTRO

Laodicea was a prominent city. It was located between two cities: Heirapolis and Colossae, the city whose church was the recipient of the letter of Colossians, which Paul wrote. Laodicea was only about 10 miles from Colossae. Laodicea was to Colossae what Three Rivers is to George West. It is apparent that the churches in the two cities had a close relationship with one another.

Paul mentions Laodicea five times in his letter to the Colossians:

Col. 2:1 indicates Paul had never been to Colossae or Laodicea, but was familiar with the ministry taking place in the region.

Col. 4:13 - Epaphras, who likely brought the gospel to the area, had a great concern for both Colossae and Laodicea.

Col. 4:15 Paul instructed the Colossians to greet those in Laodicea, especially Nympha, whose home is where the Laodicean church was meeting.

Col. 4:16 The Colossian church was instructed to read this letter to the Laodiceans as well.

Big business in Laodicea:

Huge banking industry

Known for its textile industry and specialized in a deep black wool.

Known for its school of medicine that specialized in ophthalmology.

Now that we have some background knowledge of the city itself, let’s see what the Lord has to say to the church in Laodicea.

Revelation 3:14–22 NASB95

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 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. ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”

Again, Jesus has another way of describing himself. As the Amen, he is sovereign over creation. As the faithful and true witness, we know that he will do everything he has said he will do. As the beginning of the creation of God, he is not saying that He himself is created, but the origin or source of the creation. The Greek word there for beginning is also used for ruler as in someone is the ruler of something. They are in charge of it. They have control of it. Ephesians 6:12 is a verse a lot of people know:

Ephesians 6:12 NASB95

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The word rulers in this verse is the same word in Greek as the word beginning in Revelation 3:14. Jesus is calling himself the ruler or the origin of God’s creation, not that he is the first of created things. Jesus existed eternally before anything was created and nothing that has been created was created but by him.

This Jesus, who has sovereignty and authority over all creation says this: I know your deeds. The church in Laodicea was described as lukewarm, being neither cold or hot. Because of that, he says he will spit them out of his mouth. This speaks to the spiritual temperature of the church and Jesus wishes that they were either cold or hot. Instead they were just warm. Warmth leads to comfort. Comfort leads to complacency. Complacency is self-satisfaction.

Because complacency is the killer of passion, renew your zeal for Christ today.

The city of Laodicea was in a very interesting location. Six miles away, the city of Hierapolis was known for its hot springs and Laodicea would pipe water from Hierapolis. Ten miles away, the city of Colossae was known for its cool waters and Laodicea would pipe water in from there as well. But there was a small problem. By the time the hot water from Hierapolis arrived in Laodicea, it was no longer hot. When the cold water from Colossae arrived, it was no longer cold. Both waters were just warm. So as we read that the church in Laodicea was a lukewarm church, there is a massive wordplay taking place in which Jesus is using their context to bring about awareness of their spiritual condition. Like their water source, the spiritual temperature in Laodicea is lukewarm.

[Spectrum Slide] Jesus says that he wishes the church was either hot or cold, and many have taken the interpretation that hot equals on fire for Jesus. People who are hot are passionate. They have zeal. Those who are cold don’t care. They are apathetic. They might as well be unbelievers. Some even suggest that being cold is a state of unbelief. But if that was the case, why would Jesus want anybody to be cold? If we use the water analogy, then we have to recognize that both cold and hot water are useful.

Go out and mow the lawn this summer, go inside after you get all hot and sweaty and drink a glass of warm water. That would be disgusting. The same sensation comes when drinking warm water when it’s cold outside. There are very few things that are more unpleasant than consuming a glass of warm water. But if water is either cold or hot, it is useful. But the church in Laodicea is neither.

Because they are lukewarm, Jesus says he will spit them out of his mouth. This looks like another word play where just like putting warm water in your mouth might be revolting, Jesus will spit the church out of his mouth. Not that the church will lose their salvation, but that the church in Laodicea is missing opportunities because they have maintained their lukewarmness.

This lukewarmness has come from self-satisfaction. They say, “I am rich and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” Wealth has a way of providing a sense of security for people and sometimes a false sense of security. Wealth is not evil, but if idolized, it can drive people to do things to secure it when they feel it is being threatened. The problem with wealth can be that we become dependent on it instead of the God who supplied it and this seems to be the case with the Laodicean church.

The Laodicean church said that they were rich and had need of nothing but Jesus said they are wretched and miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

Don’t let the blessings you have received stand in place of the one who gave them.

We always have to be careful with how much security we place in the blessings God has given us. He did not supply us so that we can make ourselves comfortable. He has given us blessings to turn around and be blessings to others. When we start looking at God’s resources as an avenue to make us comfortable, we take our eyes off him and begin placing them on ourselves.

When the church gets complacent, the church gets comfortable. Signs of a complacent church can be seen when the church does not want to do outreach or when the church improves facilities to make the current members comfortable, or when there is more going on to make the current membership happy and there is not much reaching out taking place. When the church says “Me first” it has moved into complacency.

This is similar to church in Sardis who believed they were alive, but the reality was they were dead. In Laodicea, they had the appearance of good things going on because they had the money to fund it, but it was all inward. Jesus said they were actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. These descriptors were very intentional and I don’t want you to miss it.

The solution to complacency is a return to dependency on the Lord.

Jesus advised the Laodicean church to buy from Him gold refined by fire so that they may become rich, white garments so they can clothe themselves, an eye salve so that they can see. All these things were things the people could get from the marketplace. Remember the three big businesses in Laodicea were banking, textiles, and ophthalmology. Through the banking industry, they could acquire gold. Through the textile industry, they could get clothing. Through the school of medicine, the could get eye salve. But look at what Jesus is saying here: the two most important words in this statement are “from Me.” Remember the church lost their dependency on Jesus. He was calling them back to a dependency on him to provide what they needed.

The gold refined by fire and the white clothes speak to purity. The eye salve to cure blindness was so that they could see the truth about their spiritual condition. It all boils down to this:

You cannot solve spiritual problems through material means.

Those who Jesus loves, he reproves and disciplines. When you try to solve spiritual problems with material means, it masks the true issue. It may provide some relief, but it does not treat the root of the issue. This is like treating the symptoms, but not the disease. Our core disease is we are sinners in need of a savior. Only through Jesus do we become aware of our disease and only through Jesus can we find the cure. We come to faith in Jesus as Savior, but there is so much more to the Christian life than knowing that I can go to heaven when I die. Knowing Jesus transformed my life so that I knew that I no longer had to be wretched and miserable chasing after the pleasures of the world. But the transformation that he began in me has required continual work to make me more like him every day.

Did you know that you will be as close to Jesus as you want to be? In verse 20 he says, “Behold I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” So many times we use this verse as assurance of salvation in a gospel presentation, but we must remember this verse was written to those who already believe.