Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Revelation 3:14-22

Theme: Laodicea is a church where Christ is not Lord.

He has to knock to gain entry to his own church.

This morning we hear the words of our Savior to the Church at Laodicea.

Historically, it’s been referred to as the complacent church.

Complacency has to do with self-satisfaction, a sense of contentment regarding the state of things.

The Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary defines complacency as “a feeling of calm satisfaction with your own abilities or situation that prevents you from trying harder.”

The opposite of complacency is zeal.

Kind David wrote in Psalm 69:9, “for zeal for your house consumes me.”

None of us is without zeal — we are all zealous about something.

We are zealous for this sports team or that one, we are zealous for this brand of cell phone or that one.

Zeal runs in our veins for what we love and against what we hate.

What we want as Christians is zeal that is properly motivated and properly directed — a truly godly zeal.

Christian zeal as “an earnest desire and concern for all things pertaining to the glory of God and the kingdom of the Lord Jesus among men.

If we assume this desire and concern is not merely feelings but action, it describes the very opposite of complacency.

Zeal is like a flame that brings a pot to a boil — it causes our affections for God to come to a boil so that we pursue what delights him and fight against what dishonors him.

Zeal is spiritual heat, spiritual energy that flows out through the godly characteristics of love, joy, hope, peace, and so on.

It’s evidently what the Church at Laodicea did not have.

What is our Lord's message to this particular congregation at Laodicea?

Jesus is very clear.

They make him want to throw up! "So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

(Rev 3:16, NIV)

The words of our Lord to the church at Laodicea are tragic.

If this church had been totally cold, there would have been a possibility of reviving the coldness.

Had it been hot, the Lord could have blessed it.

But it was neither hot or cold.

The church at Laodicea is a congregation characterized by indifference and complacency.

They need a renewed zeal.

I. JESUS IS THE FAITHFUL WITNESS WHO OFFERS AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS

1. the letter to the Church at Laodicea begins as do all the letters — with a self-description from the Lord who is over his Church, and in his Church and who speaks to his Church

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.”

(Revelation 3:14, NIV84)

2. in this verse we see a threefold portrait of Christ

A. CHRIST IS “THE AMEN”

1. the word English word Amen is a transliteration of the Hebrew ah -men

a. its use in Hebrew worship was to confirm a statement made by another, and could be translated as “so be it,” “so it is,” or even “there you have it“

b. it is a listener’s response to, and agreement with a spoken truth

1) it was a custom which passed directly from synagogue worship to the Christian worship

2) when the preacher said something that was true — particularly when the Scriptures were simply read — the congregation responds with Amen, i.e. what was just said is true, and we agree it’s true, and we will attempt to flesh-out that truth in our lives

c. so Amen is an affirmation of truth

2. here in our text, however, is the only instance in Scriptures where Amen is used as a proper name

a. this is a beautiful picture of Christ identifying himself as Truth

b. not only is our Savior truthful in all things, but his name is Truth, as he proclaimed in

John 14:6 — “I am the way, the truth, and the life ... “

c.

Jesus here identifies himself as “The Amen;” that is, he is The Sum of all things, the Final Authority, the Absolute Final Truth — truth incarnate

1) what he says is the firm, fixed, authoritative, unchangeable truth

2) how marvelous this is!

3. once we have said, “Jesus Christ,” there you have it — we have said everything; there is nothing more we can add

B. CHRIST IS “THE FAITHFUL AND TRUE WITNESS”

1. Jesus is a witness to the character of God, the purposes of God, the plan of God, and the promises of God

a. do you want to know all about God? ... then learn all you can about Jesus!

1) he is a witness of the God the Father

b. speaking of the witness of Christ, the Apostle John writes ...

“He [Jesus] testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony.

33 The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful.

34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit.”

(John 3:32–34, NIV84)

1. because He is The Faithful Witness, Jesus is the One Who can speak authoritatively concerning the wretched spiritual condition of the Church at Laodicea

a.

He is completely trustworthy, perfectly accurate, and His testimony is always reliable

b. in the end, it doesn’t matter what we think about the Church, it matters what Jesus says about the Church — because it’s his Church!

2. because Jesus is the Faithful and True Witness He will never reveal anything untrue to or about the church

C. CHRIST IS “THE RULER OF GOD’S CREATION”

1. most English Bibles translate this last description of Christ as the beginning of God’s creation

a. the NIV translates it as the ruler of God’s creation

b. the Greek word is arche (ar-khay) and refers to the first cause or the origin of something

2. Jesus is claiming for himself that he is the Origin of the creation of God — a claim to his absolute deity

a. it teaches that Christ is the source and sustainer of all creation

b. that is precisely what the Apostle John tells us in his Gospel (1:1-3): “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

(John 1:1-3, ESV)

c. the Apostle Paul sheds further light on this in Colossians 1:15

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.

17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

(Colossians 1:15–17, NIV84)

3. as the Creator, Christ’s authority is final, and no one can question Him concerning the judgment He will bring on those who disobey His Truth

4. vs. 14 is all about the deity of our Christ, his authority over his Church, and his absolute right to correct his Church when needed

ILLUS.

Remember the old E.F.

Hutton commercials?

The slogan was, “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.”

When Christ speaks to his Church, his Church better listen.

II.

LAODICEA IS A FALTERING CHURCH IN A SECULAR SOCIETY

1. of all the seven Churches, Laodicea is most unsparingly condemned

2. we are forced to ask some hard questions about this congregation:

a.

What is wrong with this church?

b.

How did it get this way?

c.

Is there a danger that such complacency is contagious?

3. the church at Laodicea had four big problems

a. 1st, they were lukewarm

b. 2nd, they were proud

c. 3rd, they were arrogant

d. 4th, they were self-deceived — they are characterized as wretched, pitiful, blind and naked, but don’t know that they are these things

4. the Laodicean Christians had become complacent

a. so then, what are the characteristics of a complacent congregation?