Laodicea- The church consumed with self to death
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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· 3 viewsLaodicea was found useless because of self reliance rather than depedence on Gods power and grace.
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Laodicea- The church consumed with self to death.
Laodicea- The church consumed with self to death.
Laodicea- was a very wealthy city
In AD 60 an earthquake destroyed the city but Cicero reported that “ L rose from the ruins by the strength of her own resources, and with no help from us”
It was in the juncture of 2 major trade routes which made it a very lucrative place
Great place for animal grazing and there husbandry of sheep casued to raise animals that had soft glassy black wool which was in high demand
Agriculture and commercial prosperity brought banking industry to L
Had a well known medical school which was famous for making medicines and salves- specifically for ears and eyes
Their weakness was their water situation- they had a bad water supply that would make people vomit when they drank it- calcium carbonate build up
Unlike Heirapolis who has hot mineral springs water and Colossae who was known for cool pure water
But as L piped in water through aquaducts from Heirapolis they ended up with repugnant lukewarm mineral infested water that made people sick to drink it
Enough background, lets look at the text
“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.
“ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so 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 eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”
Jesus introduction:
The words of the Amen- means truly, or so be it,
so that he who blesses himself in the land
shall bless himself by the God of truth,
and he who takes an oath in the land
shall swear by the God of truth;
because the former troubles are forgotten
and are hidden from my eyes.
ESV says “truth” but the Hebrew is “Amen”
But he also is the faithful and true witness
So Jesus is reiterating his 3 fold truthfulness to his witness- He will not judge wrong
“The beginning of Gods’s creation” does not mean God created him- the rest of Scripture denies that idea
Arianism- heresy that God created Jesus
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
The firstborn of all creation- is the firstborn of the new creation- he has his glorified resurrected body
We too will follow one day
“ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
The faithful and true witness who, who is the resurrected King firstborn from the dead sees all
What an amazingly dreadful thought
No commendation here just critique like Sardis
Their life is one of lukewarm nature
Not hot or cold- just lukewarm
So this brings up an interesting question- Does God desire his church be hot or cold?
I guess you would clearly know who your people are then but what is cold church?
I think he is speaking in figurative terms about a spiritual reality of Laodicea
Heirapolis has hot medicinal waters, Colossae had cool, pure , refreshing water
Laodicea had nauseating water- neither good for healing or refreshing
The church is being called to question because of their spiritual apathy
Just like the nauseating affects of their water, their barren faith was nauseating to God
And if they continued, they would prove unfaithful and be spewed out of his mouth so to speak
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
They a have self sufficient attitude- L has already rebuilt itself by its own wealth after the earthquake
They are confident in physical and spiritual wealth- Eat drink and be merry- We Got it all figured out
Similiar to the rich fool who built bigger barns thinking all cares are handled but he died that very night
But Jesus response is nothing like their assumption
“not realizing your wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
I know we have talked about this many times but a healthy reminder that we need Jesus on our best just as much as on worse isnt a bad thing
Complete depravity is what the reformers called it- you and I cant do anything to save ourselves dead in sin and trespasses
After Christ we are set free but any goodness or righteousness that comes from my life is all God
Thats why its called Fruit of Spirit not Fruit of Dean or fill in your name
Its easy to become self confident in our position on Christ but Jesus reminds Laodicea that they were to be dependent on Him
David Platt said this- “How much of our worship service and programs can we do without any to little reliance on God in prayer?”
He thinks we can do most “church” things and many would call it successful but it required little prayer and little God- its an interesting thought
Laodicea had money yet they were poor, they have eye salves yet they were blind, they had special wool for clothes yet they were naked....
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
So the faithful and true Witness offers wise counsel to the church for their spiritual condition
Come get refined gold and be rich- Pearl of Great price, buried treasure parable
Come get white garments- pure and clean to cover your nakedness- Come to Jesus and covered in his righteousness
Come get the Balm of Gilead- so you can have your eyes spiritually opened
Its easy to look at seats, fancy walls, and sound equipment and think we have arrived- God must be glad he doesnt have to worry about us anymore
Only to realize none those ever heal our sin sick hearts or help disciple one more person without prayer and dependence upon God to do the work we cannot
Is our greatest desire as the church to see the property expanded or souls discipled?
these are thoughts I think we need to mull over
Vs 19- those whom Jesus loves- he loves and disciplines- so we will repent
Many run from the discipline of God prove they are fakes
they drowned guilt with excuses and a variety of different things
But for the christian, we are to heed Gods discipline and repent knowing that God always has the best plan in mind for his people- to leave them conformed to image of God
My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline
or be weary of his reproof,
for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,
as a father the son in whom he delights.
Laodicea is called to live a life of zealous faith towards God and prove their faithfulness but the first step was 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 eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
A Gospel call is presented to Laodicea- many may not have been saved
Billy G said that he envisioned over half of the typical Sunday attenders were lost
But regardless, we know many have been blinded and fooled by a false sense of security- I was and I needed to be saved
But also a thought is that Laodicea has moved so far from truth that God says Im standing at door knocking on his own door of which the church has removed him
Strong thought- I wonder how many churches and church members sit the same way
However for those who believe, repent, answer the call and conquer/persevere the joy of Heaven awaits
To sit with Jesus on the throne- joint heirs are the bible describes us
Jesus persevered and conquered his work of atonement and therefore has sat down from that
Never will there be need for any other work of atonement- its finished, complete
For the persevering believer, Phillippians 1:6 promies God will finish his work he began in us and we will finally be made whole, complete
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”
Its God who opens the eyes, mends the broken, breaks the sinner and brings them into His glorious light
It easy to be disillusioned but if i there is any goodness or righteousness its all God
May all our hope be in Jesus and may we remember where HE brought US from