Laodicea

Introduction

You know where to start a lesson is always a concern of mine. Today it was pretty easy. It starts with this. It’s my flash drive that I forgot. Well, I didn’t forget this morning. I didn’t load the slides onto the flash drive this morning. So that was quite an experience. I had to go back home and go get the right slides and put them on this flash drive. Bring them up here, give them to the guys upstairs. And so hopefully it’s all going to work out just like I planned to. If I can stop bumping into the microphone. But I thought I had it. I checked it last night. I loaded it onto that drive. I checked it, the slides were there. So what went wrong?

Well, I had loaded them onto something different than that blue flash drive that I just showed you. You ever make a mistake like that? You ever think something’s the case when actually the reality is something different? Well, keep that in mind as we talk about the Laodiceans. So we’re going to talk about the letter to the church of the Laodiceans, and we’re going to see that they were one of the seven churches of Asia. So what do we mean by that? Well, in Revelation chapter two and three, I said it. I have to put a dollar in the jar. I said Revelations. In the book of Revelation, there’s no S at the end. In the book of Revelation, chapters two and three, Jesus is addressing these seven messages to these seven churches in Asia.

And so he’s gonna talk to them about things that they’re doing right, doing wrong. And if you’re if you’re not familiar with the book of Revelation, that’s the early part of the book, and it’s kind of like one of the easier sections. But the description of Christ is given in chapter one, and I just want to read a few of these verses from chapter one. So Revelation 1 13 says, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about his house with a golden girdle, and his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like a define brass, as if they were burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of the mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shining in his strength.

So you get this good description of Christ here, and we’re going to take some of these elements from this description of Jesus in this passage and build on them. But notice that this is not Christ in a manger. This is not Jesus hanging on a cross or washing the disciples’ feet. This is Christ in his glorified state.

But in these letters to these churches, what is he doing? He’s basically giving them a critique. So the one thing about the church of Laodicea is there’s not one commendable thing said about them. And so that’s what we’re going to base our lesson on this morning. So you think about that. If you if you’ve ever gotten a review like at work or in school, or let’s say you’ve entered a contest or done a UIL event when you were younger, and you get that little critique of how you did. Can you imagine getting that back with not one commendable thing said on it? And this is not commendation coming from just you or me or your peer. This is commendation coming from Christ, like we saw in that passage of glorified Christ speaking about you and not saying one good thing.

This is the situation they were in. This is what they had to deal with. So I think we’re used to what they call a compliment sandwich. You know what that term is? Yeah. If you have to say something bad about somebody or give them some negative news, well, you start off by saying something nice and you finish off by saying something nice, and you just put that criticism in the middle there. They got none of that. They had to sit there, listen to this letter being read, and hear praise, yes, rebuke and praise for all these other six churches, but you know, there is at least something good said about most of them, if not all of them. But you get to Laodicea, and then you get this.

So we’re going to talk about the criticism and the criticism in this lesson. So other references that we have for Laodicea, just kind of setting the stage for who they were and the situation they were in. It says, Epiphras, who is one of your number, a bond slave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers. He has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hieropolis. So you see that Laodicea is known by these Christians in Colossae. We also see later on in Colossians 4, 15 and 16, it says, Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and also Nymphea and the church that is in her house. When this letter is read among you, have it also read to the church of the Laodiceans.

And for your part, read my letter that has come from Laodicea. So these letters are being passed around. The idea here is that the church at Laodicea is not, it’s not a you know, they’re not a backwater church. They’re not out of the way. They’re well known among the brethren, especially in the churches of Asia. Other background information about Laodicea, they were says an advantageous position on a trade route, which became one of the most important, flourishing commercial cities in Asia Minor. they did a lot of monetary exchanges, monetary transactions there, extensive trade and wool. So this was not a you know, like I said, it’s not a city that’s somewhere out of the way, it’s not a backwater. They were in the mix, they were in the know, and it was a good place to be as far as a city goes.

So here in Revelation is the majority of what we know about the church there, as we get to that in Revelation chapter 3. So notice here you have this part about read my letter that comes from the Laodiceans. So apparently Paul wrote a letter to the Laodiceans, and what happened to that letter? Well, we don’t know. Well, does that mean there’s some part of the Bible that’s not included? Is there a piece missing from the Bible? Well, no. It’s just that God didn’t feel it needed to be included in the Bible. So even though he wrote lots of letters and a lot of churches got information, it wasn’t felt to be or wasn’t needed to be in control or included in the Bible.

1. What's Missing From the Letter to the Laodiceans

And the idea here is that God’s in control of everything, he knew what he wanted included in the Bible, and I think that’s how it worked out. So speaking of missing letters, so what’s missing from the letter to the Laodiceans? What did they not get? Well, there’s nothing said of them trying false teachers like you see in Revelation 2, verse 2. The church at Ephesus was praised for this. It says, I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false. So there’s nothing said of them doing something like that. So notice that the church at Ephesus was praised for their attitude about these false teachers.

They didn’t like them, they wouldn’t tolerate them. And they put them to the test. Okay, if you think you’re an apostle, we’ll give you the test of an apostle. And so they would test these guys. So they had the nerve to do that. Why didn’t the Ch Laodiceans do that? Do well, maybe they didn’t have any false teachers coming to them? Well, probably not. Maybe they were afraid. Maybe they were too busy because we’re gonna see that a big component of the life of the people in Laodicea was that they were really financially focused. But they didn’t get this kind of praise from Christ. Nothing said about them hating impurity. here the Church of Ephesus again, it says, You hate the deeds of the n of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

So they hated impurity. Again, it’s a vision of their attitude or the praise of their attitude towards the Nic excuse me, towards the Nicolaitans. Well, what was that what were the Nicolaitans doing? There’s not a lot said about them, but in some other studies you can see that they were not they were not against including other types of pagan practices in the Lord’s worship. So they would bring in other things. The idea is like a dirty snowball. we saw the vision of Christ and talking about his hair or something being white as snow. well, the idea that if you’ve seen pure snow when it’s fallen, I’ve seen it a few times. I haven’t seen it much.

I grew up in South Texas, but when you do see fresh snow, it’s white as can be. a lot of you have gone skiing and seen that. I saw it in Canada. Tell you what, when I went to Canada and saw eight inches of fresh snow, they knew who was not a Canadian. Because look at it, you know. Yeah, we know. but also I’ve seen the other kind of snow, the snow that’s been kind of piled up, that cars are driven over, it’s kind of sloshed off the road, and it’s gross and it’s got all these other chunks in it. It’s not white, it’s filthy looking, and it’s a dirty snowball. Well, it’s that kind of idea of the worship that the Nicolalaitans were trying to infect the church with.

It was this church, this worship that had not only the pure snow of Christ, you might say, but also this other stuff. They were not to like that. So nothing was said of them hating that type of impurity, nothing was said of their holding fast their faith. So notice this passage in Revelation 2 13 about the church in Pergamus. It says, I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is, and you hold fast my name and did not deny my faith, even in the days of Antipas, where excuse me, my witness, my faithful one who was killed among you where Satan dwells. So you see that even the Church of Pergamus is praised for this stand that they took, how they didn’t lose their faith.

They kept their faith, even though they were in the city of Pergamus, which was a local or regional capital. It was a seat of government in that area, and so there was a lot going on that was working against the church there, but they didn’t lose their faith. So this was not said about the church at Laodicea. So, what’s missing also from this letter? Nothing said about their last works being greater than their first. Excuse me. 219 about the church in Thy Tyra says, I know your deeds and your love and faith and service and perseverance, that your deeds of late are greater than at first. So what is he telling them? He’s saying that you’re getting stronger, you’re getting better at what you’re doing.

The church is growing, maybe not in numbers, but in strength, and that your later deeds are greater than the stuff you did at the beginning. So it’s a recognition of what’s going on there. And finally, nothing said about them keeping their garments undefiled. Again, the idea that you saw Christ earlier with the pure white garment on in that glorified state. Talking in Revelation 3 4 says, But you have a few people in Sardis, so of course it’s talking about Sardis, who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. So again, that the idea of white in the book of Revelation always referring to purity and talking about white robes and right white garments throughout the Bible. So they’re you know, they got some get Sardis got some bad reports, but at least they had this good thing said about them.

2. Neither Cold Nor Hot, They Were Lukewarm

Okay, so they didn’t have any of this. So what is said about the church at Laodicea? Well, first of all, they were neither cold nor hot. They were lukewarm. I think a lot of people today would want to be at least lukewarm, but you know, it’s a it’s a late cold snap. But it says, I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot because, or so because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. And so a lot has been made about the idea of Christ spewing forth these people, just how unsavory that is. So don’t get caught up on the idea of this cold versus hot. Really, you know, it’s like these people, their attitude towards their religion and Christ was pretty much, eh, I could take it or leave it.

They were just as much for evil as they were for good. They weren’t totally committed to the church and to Christ. And when it came to religious practices and religious things, they weren’t into it. And so much that, you know, Tony, so many of his lessons of late have been about having a spirit-filled service and being enthusiastic and zeal and all those kind of things. They would have none of that. So basically their attitude towards things was kind of like meh, you know, and that’s kind of a popular phrase nowadays. Meh, just meaning I don’t really care. And so we need to look at ourselves and say, you know, we’re doing that same thing. And we come in here to worship and going, eh, you know, I’d rather be somewhere else, or when do the Astros play, or anything like that.

We need to really shut aside or shut out all these cares and thoughts of the world and really focus on what we’re doing at this time. But you can be lukewarm. Another thing that’s pointed out about the Laodiceans in verse 17, they concentrated on material things. Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy. So that’s the first part of that verse. But being rich and wealthy is something that they you see, they’re he’s quoting them. I’ve become rich and wealthy. Okay, is that really how you describe yourself? Well, it’s been pointed out in this sermon or in this quote but before that, yes, we’re all rich and wealthy when compared to most of the world, but still, we don’t dwell on that. We’re not thinking, well, I’m rich, so I’ve got it made.

But that’s kind of the attitude they had. Their focus was on material things and not spiritual things. And when you look in your New Testament and read all of the letters and all the gospel accounts, so many times the stress is being made to us that don’t worry so much about worldly things. Put your sights on things above. Put your things, put your focus on spiritual matters. And yes, you’ve got to concern yourself with your day-to-day job and taking care of this, that, and the other physically, but don’t let that be your focus. That’s not why we’re here to put our focus on the material. But we see part of the problem in Laodicea was they were what? They were physically minded. They were thinking about the material and not the spiritual.

And because of that, they had a feeling of independence. Notice the second part in verse 17. Because you say, I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing. Imagine that attitude. I don’t need anything. You know, and this is addressed to them in church. So, you know, obviously they don’t even feel that they need God. I don’t need God. I’m rich. You know, how many rich people have died and gone on and wish they had been spiritual minded as opposed to physically minded? Well, it’s countless. But anyway, they had a feeling of independence, even from God. And then this last part of verse 17, they were blind to their true condition. Okay. So he says, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

Okay. So this kind of had to hit them kind of hard because they didn’t really feel that they were poor. They didn’t feel like they were in some miserable condition. They thought they were doing pretty well. But obviously not. So you have to imagine, you know, being in this thought process or being there mentally, where you’re kind of lukewarm about God. You think that you’ve got it made because you’ve got some physical things.

When it comes to that, you know, Luke 12, 15 says, then he has said to them, Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed, for not even when one has an abundance, does his life consist of his possessions? And Mark 8 36 says, For what does it profit a man if he gained the whole world and forfeit his own soul? So, you know, don’t put your materialism before spirituality. do you need God? Yes, you do. people are often blinded by their own physical excess. And so that’s kind of the feeling that’s going on here in Laodicea. They were successful, they kind of lost their dependence on God, they put their trust in material possessions, and didn’t realize how things were.

So just like I thought I had my slides in my thumb drive this morning, they were misreading the situation. They looked at it like, ah, it must be doing okay. And we see this a lot of times too, where people say, Oh, you know, I’m doing well, I’ve got a successful job, things are paid off, I’m healthy. God must like me. You know, they equate physical process or physical well being with spiritual well-being. So we need to see ourselves as God sees us. And we need to be open to the reality that God is trying to point out, even in this letter here. I had a friend who said his father told him that in any room there’s an idiot. That was his that’s his message to his son.

3. They Needed to Receive Advice

There’s an idiot in any room, and if you don’t know who the idiot is, it’s you know. So the idea being that, you know, you don’t want to be the idiot in the room. Well, I don’t think really we’re we’re focused so much on somebody’s idiocy or not, but you don’t want to be the one who’s blind to that situation. I think that’s what the story was pointing out that don’t be the person who thinks, oh, you know, I everybody sees me as an equal when they don’t. Okay, so no man truly sees until he sees as God speaks of him. You have to have the right perspective, and that’s a heavenly perspective. Okay, so what do they need? They needed to receive advice.

So moving into verse 18, Jesus Himself says, I advise you. Just think about this. It’s not their neighbor advising them over the back fence. It’s not somebody at work or their friend at school. This pardon me. This advice is coming from Christ Himself. You think they would sit up and listen to that pretty much? I think so. So Christ is advising them. I’m gonna advise you. So, what does he advise them to do? To believe to buy refined gold. And so I’m advising you to buy from me gold that sorry, gold refined by fire so that you may become rich. So, what does it mean by gold refined by fire? Well, remember that dirty snowball. You know, when you refined gold, what are you getting rid of in that gold by the refining process?

Well, all the impurities. Okay. So just as you know, Christ was wearing gold in that vision, you’re gonna buy from me gold. And it’s not gonna be gold that’s got a lot of junk from the outside in it. It’s not gonna be gold with a lot of impurities in it. It’s refined gold, it’s pure gold. All that other stuff that’s not important, it’s unnecessary is washed out in the refining process. And notice where they’re getting it from. To buy from me. Okay? This is a sole source provider that they would say in the business world. There’s only one place you can get this kind of gold. You can only get it from Christ. There’s no other source for this. So buy from me pure gold. So that what?

So that you may become rich. Well, that’s been their problem all along, isn’t it? They want to be rich. But he’s talking about not physical riches, but spiritual riches. You know, yeah, you want gold, but go for the true gold. Just like the woman at the well who wanted that living water. Well, give me that living water. I don’t want to be thirsty anymore. I don’t want to have to come down to this well. And Jesus didn’t say, well, you’re missing the point, but he taught her that the living water was something that other than what she was thinking of. So it’s not a physical gold he’s offering them, it’s spiritual gold, it’s purity. He also says to buy from me white raiments. So I advise you to buy white raiments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed.

So again, it’s that idea that I think I’m realthy, I think I’m rich, I think I’m in a high status when actually you’re in a low status. Why were they in such a low status? Because their physical well-being may have been fine, but their spiritual well-being was that of a poor person. They were poor spiritually. And so he’s saying, buy again, it’s that sole source provider. Buy from me what? White garments. Here’s that white coming back into it. Pure garments. Where are these pure garments? You may clothe yourself. And then he says, the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed. So again, it’s not the idea that nakedness by choice, but that somebody is so poor and destitute that they can’t even afford clothes. They’re naked because they’re so wretched that they’re they’re they’re unbecoming in what they should be.

So then he’s addressing kind of what they’re looking for in a physical sense, but making a spiritual application to it. Yeah, you want to be in the finest limits. You want to be in the finest clothes because you’re wealthy. How about do that for your soul as well? Then he tells them to buy ISA. Isa. So what’s that? Buy Isaf to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Okay. So just think of it as medicine for your eyes. Where are you going to get this medicine? The same source. Buy it from Christ. I sab to anoint your eyes that you may see. So that what? Well, so they can see their true condition. So they can see the reality of the situation. And that’s again one of those problems that people have.

They look at themselves and think, I’m doing okay, because you know, I’ve got a new job, got a new car, things are going well in my relationships. I must be doing fine. But actually, they need what God can provide. So notice some of these other warnings.

So, okay, yeah, I wanted to go down here. Psalms 1 and 2 says, How blessed is the man who’s not walking the counsel of wicked, of the wicked, nor stand in the paths of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and his law, and in his law he meditates day and night. So what is he doing? He’s taking the Lord’s advice in that case. And He’s saying that’s the man who’s blessed. If you’re preoccupied with riches, first Timothy six first Timothy 6 10 says, For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

4. Take This Message to Heart and Repent Zealously

So they need to receive these things by the refined gold, by the salve, by the white garments from Christ. Then they need to take this message to heart. So he says in verse 19 after that, those whom I love, I repuve, or excuse me, I reprove and just discipline. So he starts it off with that. So who does he reprove and discipline? Those that he loves. So it’s evidence of the love that God has for them. God does not always command, bless, or uphold people. Just because you’re saved, just because you’re in the church doesn’t mean he’s going to just tell you, oh, you’re great, you’re fine and everything. He’s gonna can he’s gonna reprove you, he’s gonna rebuke you, he’s gonna discipline you to make you better, just like we do our own children.

Also, he tells them that they need to repent zealously. So he says, Therefore, be zealous and repent. So he wants them to do it, but in a zealous way. So again, it’s the idea of doing it with some kind of enthusiasm. Doing it with your heart, not just saying, Well, I repent. You know, as if, you know, oh, well, that’s going to take care of it. we had a problem with one of our kids that we would, you know how you tell your children, you know, say I’m sorry when you do something wrong, and we would get, okay, I’m sorry. You know, it’s like, okay. Yes, you’re saying it, but we want you to mean it, you know. And so we try to talk about why you should really be sorry, and it would be, okay, I’m sorry.

You know, and then she got to where she would go, Sierra, sorry, you know, make it a little thing that kids do. So she wasn’t getting the point then, but she’s doing well now. But anyway, the idea the idea is that you know, you want it to come from the heart. You when we come together to worship God, as Tony, like I said, Tony’s mentioned this over and over, you know, it’s got to be from our hearts. We need to do it in spirit and in truth. So, yes, we do make sure that everything we do is according to scriptures, but we also want to do it with some enthusiasm. Okay, everything must be done with our hearts. And of course, to repent with zeal.

So be zealous and repent. So taking that step to changing your ways, okay. So repentance is not just saying, Well, I’m not gonna do it again, knowing inside that you really think you will, but really making a turn not to. we’ve had discussions with wayward members before here at Decker Prairie, and we’ve we’ve actually gotten comments from people saying, Well, I know I need to repent, but I know deep inside I really don’t want to right now. You know, and things like that are so disappointing, but they were so caught up in sin at that moment that the idea of repenting just it wasn’t gonna fly for them, you know, and so you know, being honest with yourself in that situation is fine, but you need to push yourself to getting to that point of true repentance.

5. See That Eternity Is at Stake

Don’t just go, ah, okay. Or don’t just say you repent, you know, do true repentance with zeal is what’s looked for. And then finally to see that eternity is at stake. And I think that’s what the people at Laodicea really needed to do. They were they were so physically minded. They were so wedded to what was going on in their lives in the world at the time, that they really weren’t concerned with eternity. It’s like, yeah, I know it’s there, but I’m not so worried about it. So in verse 20, he says, Behold, I stand in the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come 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.

Okay. So get a couple of points here. That he who overcomes. Think about the idea of overcoming right now. What does it mean to overcome? In this sense, you’re thinking about eternity. Christ is wrapping up this condemnation of the church in Laodicea by giving them this, but it’s not too late kind of a statement. But I want you to do what? Just to accept me? No, I want you to overcome. And remember what we’ve been talking about in the Sunday morning class, is you know, talking about evidences for Christ. And the whole topic that I think one of the first topics that came up was, well, what about the problem of sin? What about sin in the world? And what about evil in the world?

And you see a verse like this, it says, overcome. Okay? That’s why we’re in this world, not to just have a life of luxury and just you know, ride down the river. It’s that you’re gonna have to overcome. You know, like I said in that class the other day, somebody said a long time ago, you know, this world is perfect for what God intends it to be. Okay? Something where you’re gonna have to overcome some obstacles. And notice that I also overcame. Christ had to overcome in this world too. He’s not just saying, well, do what I didn’t or do what I couldn’t do. He came and he overcame as well. So that’s what they need. So we need to take these kind of things to heart.

You know, when he’s talking to the church in Laodicea, he’s saying, Yeah, there’s a lot that you need to do. Listen to me. Take it to heart. Repent with zeal. See that there’s a greater thing at stake. And keep your eyes on the goal of heaven, not on your physical stuff on the earth. And that’s really where they seem to be. The church at Laodicea was just focused on the here and now and the physical. I got a job to do. I got something to go work on here, over there. I’ve got to make some money. So the other slide kind of got.

Conclusion

Okay. Don’t worry about that. Are you a Laodicean? So what’s going on here? The idea is that are you in the same boat as the Laodiceans? What do you need to do? Do you need to receive that advice? You need to take it to heart. You need to repent with zeal or see eternity is at stake. I think that’s a problem so many of us have like, oh, yeah, I go to church, but I’m not really the church. No, you are the church, and you should see yourself as that and be zealous about it. Repent if you have to. The story about John F. Kennedy in Berlin. Some of you remember that. He went to Berlin and he made this speech in West Berlin, and he made the line or made the statement, Ich bin I’m Berliner.

And some people tried to make a point out of that said, Well, he just called himself a jelly donut. You know, and yes, there was a type of jelly donut that they called a Berliner, but he didn’t call himself a jelly donut. But the idea was that he was saying, I’m a Berliner because the goals that you have are the goals that I have. You know, I am with you in this because I have the same spirit that you have for freedom and self-rule, and against the throes of communism, you know. And so the idea is the same here. You know, are you a layout of sin? And you don’t want to be a layout of sin. You don’t want to be one that can be accused of having these faults like the Church of Laodicea have.

But if you do, you need to make that switch. You need to make that change in your life right now. If you haven’t put on Christ in baptism, now’s the time to do that. If you need to repent and change your ways, we can pray for you in front of this assembly. But if you need to come now as we stand and sing.