Sermon Tone Analysis

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

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton: Standard Bible

Amen.

This is the only place in Revelation where Jesus is called “the Amen.” “Amen” (amēn [281, 297]) comes from Hebrew and means “truly,” “so be it.”

The term almost always follows an assertion of some sort in Revelation (1:6–7; 5:14; 19:4; 22:20–21).

In 7:12, however, it both precedes and follows the assertion so as to heighten and emphasize that, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength belong to our God forever and ever!”

This may be our clue to John’s use at 3:14.

“The Amen” precedes the attributes of Jesus to emphasize them.

faithful and true witness.

Lit., “faithful martyr and true.”

In 1:5, Jesus was introduced as the “faithful witness” (see commentary there), and in 19:11 he is described as “faithful” and “true.”

To one of the most unfaithful churches, with a totally false self-perception (3:17), Jesus’ attributes are a confrontation.

the beginning of God’s new creation.

In 21:6, God is described as “the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End,” and in 22:13, Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega … the Beginning and the End.”

In 3:14, Jesus is the beginning of God’s new creation.

Jesus clearly indicates to the Laodicean church that “business as usual” is not what Christian life is all about.

It is a new creation whose beginning in Jesus forecloses the old manner of life.

3:15–16 you are neither hot nor cold … you are like lukewarm water.

The lukewarm image would not have been lost on the Laodiceans.

The city had no fresh water supply.

Drinking water had to be carried from the springs or the river in the valley below.

Utility water was piped to Laodicea from hot mineral springs about six miles away near Hierapolis.

By the time it reached the city it was lukewarm and, because of its high mineral content, would cause a person to vomit if it were drunk (Beale 1999:303; Witherington 2003:107).

Jesus used this language to tell the Laodicean church that it did not stand out against the culture in which it lived, for it was neither cold nor hot.

Probably too much has been made over Jesus’ statement, “I wish you were cold or hot.”

Some have suggested that “hot” referred to the healing mineral waters of the hot springs near Hierapolis and “cold” to the refreshing waters of Colossae.

(For a full discussion of this view, see Hemer 1986.)

It seems best, however, to simply infer that Jesus was indicating they should be distinct from their culture.

I will spit you out of my mouth!

This is better translated as “I am about to vomit you out.”

Laodicea’s accommodation to its culture made Jesus sick.

Again, we see the possibility of people falling away from the faith.

This element has been present in each of the “problem” and “perverse” churches.

Ephesus was on the verge of having their lampstand removed (2:5), Pergamum was about to experience Jesus’ warring against them (2:16), Thyatira had those who were about to be “killed with death” (see note on 2:23), and Sardis was in danger of having their name erased from the Book of Life (3:5).

Don’t Let Your Fire Go Out!”

; “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth”.

(KJV)

They had lost their vigor (vv.

16–17).

In the Christian life, there are three “spiritual temperatures”: a

burning heart, on fire for God (), a cold heart (), and a lukewarm heart ().

The lukewarm Christian is comfortable, complacent,

and does not realize his need.

If he were cold, at least

he would feel it!

They had lost their values (vv.

17–18a).

The

church at Smyrna thought itself poor, when it was really

rich (); the Laodiceans boasted that they were

rich, when in fact they were poor.

Perhaps we have here

a hint of why this church declined spiritually: they had

become proud of their ministry and had begun to measure

things by human standards instead of by spiritual

values.

They were, in the eyes of the Lord, “wretched,

and miserable, and poor.”

They had lost their vision (v.

18b).

The

Laodiceans were “blind.”

They could not see reality.

They were living in a fool’s paradise, proud of a church

that was about to be rejected.

The apostle Peter teaches

that when a believer is not growing in the Lord, his

spiritual vision is affected ().

“Diet” has

bearing on the condition of one’s eyes, in a spiritual

sense as well as a physical one.

They had lost their vesture (vv.

17–22).

Like the

emperor in Hans Christian Andersen’s story, these

Christians thought they were clothed in splendor when

they were really naked!

To be naked meant to be

defeated and humiliated (; ).

"Thou art neither cold nor hot...

I will spew thee out of my mouth" (, ).

The condition of being lukewarm is a most unacceptable condition.

It sums up the problem in the church in Laodicea.

• It is a deceitful condition.

"Neither cold nor hot" ().

This condition is especially deceitful.

There is enough good to attract the spiritual, but enough evil to attract the carnal.

Many churches build their crowd this way.

• It is a defiling condition.

Lukewarmness does not oppose anything except cold and hot, so such a condition will be especially defiling.

A lukewarm protest against sin will not turn anyone away from sin.

A lukewarm support of righteousness will not gain any votes for godliness.

The result will be defilement.

• It is a debilitating condition.

"Neither cold nor hot" ().

This kind of church will do nothing.

It simply goes with the crowd.

It straddles the fence, and stays in the middle of the road.