The Church of Laodicea

Series of letters sent along a trade route, a Roman road starting in the southwest with Ephesus, going to the north, then back east and south to Laodicea

Laodicea is about 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia and 90 miles straight east of Ephesus.

Each church given a letter from the Lord Jesus, penned by the Apostle John while exiled on the island of Patmos

The letters have a pattern of a greeting, where Christ will reveal something about himself, a commendation, a condemnation, a warning, and a promise

Church of Ephesus

sound doctrine, but left their first love

Church of Smyrna

difficulties because of their faith, told to hold on in persecution that was coming, even into death

Church of Pergamum

people in the church are still believing and worshipping idols

Church of Thyatira

not just that people are believing false doctrine, but the church is allowing it to be taught, bringing judgment on the church

The Church of Sardis

had a good reputation, because they were doing a lot of things, a lot of stuff

they were like white washed tombs, dead on the inside

The Church of Philadelphia

No condemnation, and were promised protection from the hard times coming to the world

Today - The Church of Laodicea

Revelation 3:14–22 (CSB)

14 “Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea: Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation:

15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.

16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.

17 For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see.

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.

20 See! 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 “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

22 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Who is the Church of Laodicea

90 miles east of Ephesus, 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia

Medical city, known for treatment that they came up with for the eyes and ears

No real water supply

hot springs piped in from Hieropolis and cold water from Colossea

water would meet and make a lukewarm mixture that was not very good

Who is sending the letter

Jesus calls himself the “Amen” or the truth,

the originator of God’s creation

the one who created

Jesus is the truth and the power, by which all things are measured

Jesus is the standard by which all things are measured. That includes our lives and our religion and it leaves us falling well short of where God has called us to be.

A Condemnation of our Religion

Our real desire is for God to be happy with the un-sanctified version of ourselves

“Good enough for who it is for”

Heather’s uncle Junior said this about our house as we were remodeling it and he came to help with it one weekend

if we are honest, this is how we feel about doing “church stuff”

it is about if we have time - do I have something I would rather be doing

it is about if we who it is for - do I have a relationship with that person or is there a gain in it for me

Revelation 3:15–17 (CSB)

15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.

16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.

17 For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to heaven.

Jesus said this to his disciples in Matthew 19.

implication - a rich man relies on his possessions, thinks because he has much, that he will enter in to eternity with God

as if the wealth that he has is proof of God’s blessings on his life,

if God has blessed his life, God must be happy with his life, he needs nothing

the proof of how prevalent this is, is found in the response of the disciples who heard this teaching,

Matthew 19:25 (CSB)

25 When the disciples heard this, they were utterly astonished and asked, “Then who can be saved?”

do we see this backward way of thinking, if a person who is blessed with the things of this world cannot be saved, then who can possibly be saved?

Our money cannot save us

this is not a message about how it is sinful to have a lot of money

money is not evil, the bible does not say that, the love of money is, greed is

greed is not a rich persons sin, I have seen some of the poorest people be greedy, looking down on those who have as if they do not deserve what they have and the poor person does

money will not save you, I know of very few people, if any, who believe that it does

but I see a lot of people who believe that the blessings of this world equals a satisfaction of God with their life

this is what their heart truly desires

If I am blessed to not worry where my next meal is coming from, or how next months bills are being paid, then God is happy with me

this is why they do religious things

I do not want to be like the poor people, that life looks way to hard

our rules cannot save us

On the flip side, for those of us who have… we have all heard a thousand times that we are all rich in our country, we have just redefined what poor is

but what you end up with is a set of rules to make sure that you are doing godly things with your money

am I giving to the God… here is the money, and here is what you are to do with it

What percentage am I giving

if we do not make up rules, how do we know if we are giving what we should?

our hearts are open

we give generously, without seeking credit

do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing

just give

We give cheerfully

the lord loves a cheerful giver

it is not with reluctance or pain that we give, but with a heart to love God and people

Our trust in our own wealth leads us to a religion that is disgusting to God

A Consequence of our Religion

We do not need cheap grace to make us acceptable, we need to be refined, we need cleansed

what is cheap grace - grace without sacrifice

it is this false religion that has been sold in the United States for decades of praying a prayer, make no real changes to your life and you will be accepted by God

sure, he may not be thrilled with you, but you’ll get in

by trusting in our wealth as proof of God’s acceptance of us, we live a life free from sacrifice

a life free of sacrificial love, leaves us lost

Revelation 3:16–18 (CSB)

16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.

17 For you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

We disgust God

Such a sharp contrast in where they think they are, compared to where Jesus tells them they are

we need nothing… look at us, look at what I have

Can you imagine living a life believing that God is happy with you, only to hear that when God thinks about you it makes him want to vomit

This is the way Lillie is with oysters, we tried some on a vacation, she was not impressed

This is the picture that should be in our heads when we play the religious games that we like to play

coming to God in worship… singing how great he is, while we are trusting in our good works, in our own wealth and prosperity

God watching, God trying not to throw up

We are not who we think we are

we think that we need nothing, when Jesus tells us that blessed are the poor in spirit

that blessed are those who realize that they are spiritually bankrupt

if you follow the beatitudes down, those who know they are bankrupt spiritually, then mourn over their sin and comforted, once comforted, they are meek, humbly serving those around them, and they inherit the world

do you see how this church in Laodicea is the opposite of this

it scares me to think that we are not any different

I am not asking you to give more money, I am not asking you to do more things

there is not a check list, or a five step program that I am trying to give you

I am trying to draw the picture that we are bankrupt without Christ

this is the contrast that Jesus draws to the reader

you think yourself rich and needing nothing, we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked

When we trust in anything other than the sacrifice of Jesus for our salvation, we are not saved as we believe, we are lost.

A Calling from our Religion

True repentance and allowing Jesus to come and change your life is the only thing that can save us

Our choice is not keep everything or sell everything

this is a false dichotomy that some will throw out

but this is no different than a works salvation

Jesus is calling them to them and us to repentance and obedience

a repentant heart is one who realizes that there is no difference between the have and have nots, we all need the blood of Jesus

an obedient heart is one who is willing to part with all that he has for the sake of Christ

but the amazing thing about this one, by which all things are measured, both truth and power, is that he does not force it upon anyone

it is out of love for his people, he comes and knocks on the door of their hearts

Revelation 3:19–21 (CSB)

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent.

20 See! 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 “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

God’s love for us calls us to change

if you are hearing this message, God in his love is calling you to be zealous and repent

zealous - having zeal - zeal = great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective

the zeal, that we have been taught to chase after the things of this world should be abandoned and in its place, a zeal for the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ

God’s love calls us to intimacy

but this is not just a call to come and do things differently

this is a call to come and spend your life with Christ

he will eat with us and us with him

meaning we will do life together, it is a term of intimacy

think of how a meal was shared by people of this time

laying at an angle leaning into each other

there is no spacing

God’s love calls us to reign with him

because of the righteousness that Jesus possessed he was given the right to sit with the father

that same righteousness has been put on us, those who believe in his name, after the sacrifice of Jesus

where our sins were put on him and his righteousness one us

as such, we too are now heirs!

Romans 8:12–17 (CSB)

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh,

13 because if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

14 For all those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons.

15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear. Instead, you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father!”

16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children,

17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

The sacrifice of Jesus was for so much more than a good life now

God’s desire for you is eternal…

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