Laodicea: A Call to Open Your Heart - Lessons From Revelation's 7 Churches, part 7
Are you spiritually lukewarm? The enemy of your soul can blind you to the truth of God with empty hopes and lies. When anything supersedes your love and passion for Jesus, you become spiritually poor. But Jesus is pursuing you! Is your heart open to Him?
Sometimes, God uses situations in our lives to discipline us when we go off course. He rebukes those he loves to awaken us spiritually. The letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are a warning for us today.
We need to look deep into our hearts, repent and recommit our love for Jesus and the truth of the Gospel. Let us open the door of our hearts wide and invite Jesus in.
Jesus knows the intense pressure you’re facing, the trials, suffering, and afflictions. He also knows your faithfulness. Sometimes fighting the spiritual battle before us can become so consuming that we take our spiritual eyes off God. Let us not be fooled or seduced into thinking spiritual compromise or watered-down values are OK or acceptable to God.
Listen to the Spirit of God, be spiritually “on guard,” and press in: Choose today to be an overcomer, practice spiritual discipline and be guided by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Passionately seek the love of God and share it with those around you.
Pray, trust the Lord, and walk in faith. Always remember God is in control no matter how things may appear. People will take notice and listen when they witness your faith.
Laodicea, a lukewarm, materialistic church: a call to open the door of your heart.
The Enemy Seeks Death; Jesus Offers Life
This is the seventh and final church of our study in the seven churches from the book of Revelation. We have looked at the church in Ephesus, who had forsaken their first love; the church at Smyrna, who experienced persecution and encouraged not to fear the second death; the church at Pergamum, where some appeared to be seduced and were displaying a morally compromised lifestyle; the church of Thyatira, where some believers in the church chose to tolerate sin and misleading teaching; the church of Sardis was a church that looked alive outwardly, but inwardly was spiritually dying and dead; and the church of Philadelphia was a church that persevered and refused to deny the name of Jesus.
Each letter to the churches has given a ray of hope for the believer and instruction on how to live. Each church, each believer, is encouraged to have an ear to hear to what the spirit says. Each person is encouraged to respond to what the spirit of God says to the churches. For some, it might be to repent and follow Jesus; for others, it is to keep the faith, to trust, to believe, or to persevere to the end, even in times of suffering.
No matter how things might appear, have faith in Christ.
Each person needs to decide for themselves who they will follow and what they will believe. To those who overcome, they will be blessed, and they will receive and enjoy all the promises of God. The overcomers will be given the right to be with Christ in paradise.
These letters to the seven churches are warnings to churches and believers down the ages.
I do not believe any church or believer intentionally drifts away from lovingly serving Jesus; but it can easily occur when the enemy of your soul seeks to devour followers of Christ. It is also true for the person who is living in spiritual darkness, whose spiritual eyes and ears are closed to the truth of Christ, they will only believe the lies of the world and remain in darkness.
Don’t believe the lies of the enemy:
The lie that causes you to focus on your own selfish, ungodly desires rather than on God Almighty.
A lie that reduces faith in God, instead to think mankind is simply an evolved being, without a divine creator.
A lie to cause you to discount the warning of scripture and think everything is OK. It is the lie that Eve believed in the garden, “you will not surely die”.
A lie that says: God does not want you to have fun or for you to know all he knows, because then you will be like God.
A lie that says: a comfortable life is one where the person with the most toys wins and that is all that matters.
These are lies that come with a hidden cost, a balloon payment, of eternal death and separation from God.
But thank the LORD! Jesus provides a way of redemption. A way to overcome the lie of the enemy and to pay the debt of our sin, that we can never pay ourselves. A way to realize our spiritual poverty and receive, with joy, the blessing and promises of God for those who believe.
The way to salvation. The way of eternal life is only with Christ and is only possible by answering the door to your heart and inviting Jesus in.
Today we look at the seventh church. The church in Laodicea.
“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. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:14-22, NIV).
A few weeks ago, we looked at the church in Smyrna. The city of Smyrna was said to be physically poor yet rich spiritually. The believers in Smyrna did not have much in physical possessions, and they were one of only two churches that we studied who did not receive a warning to repent. The believers of Smyrna experienced persecution but remained faithful.
The church of Laodicea was the complete opposite: a wealthy community, but spiritually they were lukewarm. Spiritually they were poor, but spiritually comfortable just the way they were.
I believe Laodicea is the only church of the seven churches that did not receive a positive word of some kind from the Lord. The letter to the Laodiceans contained only a rebuke. It appears they were living close enough to being religious and not so distant for them to feel a need to repent. Neither obedience nor disobedience, regarding the truth of God, mattered to them. They were happy like a frog is in a pond. They did not appear to experience any persecution and were unaware of their own spiritual poverty.
Physically Wealthy but Spiritually Poor
Jesus often taught using parables, and the Holy Spirit has a way of using physical situations in our lives—relating the natural to teach a spiritual truth of God.
The city of Laodicea had no water supply of its own. It relied on two nearby cities for its water:
The city of Colossae, which was southeast of Laodicea: they had cool mineral springs. So cool water was “piped into” Laodicea from Colossae by way of an aqueduct.
The city of Hierapolis, which was north of Laodicea: they were known for their hot mineral springs. This hot mineral water was sent to Laodicea in a similar manner as the Colossae water.
By the time both water sources reached Laodicea, the water was only lukewarm: when the water sources met and mixed, the hot water was no longer hot and the cold water was no longer cold.
How many of you enjoy a nice hot drink or an ice-cold drink? I enjoy a hot cup of coffee, chocolate, or tea. I can also enjoy a cold, refrigerated iced coffee, iced tea, or chocolate drink. But what about a drink that has been sitting in the sun for a time and becomes lukewarm? Try drinking a glass of lukewarm iced tea or milk; not so appetizing.
The believers in Laodicea were not spiritually hot or cold. They were somewhere in the middle. And Jesus said he would spit them out. Oh, the believers in Laodicea may have thought they were spiritually OK. But chances are, they gave no thought to their spiritual wellbeing and were living spiritually lukewarm lives.
The Laodiceans were living spiritually ignorant lives.
Chances are no one could tell what they believed. They were not living for Jesus, nor were they living wildly or ungodly, but rather somewhat worldly lives. They may have gone to church on the sabbath and then lived as the world the other 6 days.
The city of Laodicea had a good healthy business in making clothing from the black wool industry they had developed. The city was making money and the people were living comfortably. John writes and tells us that the believers in Laodicea did not realize that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. They were spiritually naked, yet these people made garments to be sent to other cities. John called these people poor and naked, yet they had money in their pockets.
What was the issue that John was trying to relate?
Spiritually they were poor; spiritually they were naked; spiritually they were blind, even as they walked around in fine clothing with money in their wallets.
The city of Laodicea was also known for the eye salve that they produced and sold. This eye salve was sought after to bring healing to those who had some type of eye issue. The medical eye salve helped people to see in the natural; and yet John tells the reader that the believers in Laodicea were blind. Physically the could see, but they were spiritually blind. Oh, they could help others to see and they made money doing that, but spiritually they were blind, poor, naked, and lukewarm.
The believers in Laodicea were entangled and believed the lies of the enemy. They were living blind regarding the truth of the Gospel. They were deaf to Jesus knocking at the door of their hearts. They were spiritually lukewarm, and God desired them to be one or the other: hot or cold.
The believers were only deceiving themselves, no one else—and certainly not God. God was about to figuratively spit them out of his mouth if they did not change.
Are you spiritually lukewarm?
Jesus knew their deeds but works do not help you gain salvation.
If advertising teaches us anything, it is this: multiple lies that feed your selfish ego sell products. Just ask the car dealer, the cereal maker, the media companies. Greed can turn an honest person into a dishonest person whom they would despise, but they do not see it in themselves.
The enemy of your soul can blind you to the truth of God with empty hopes and lies. The enemy of your soul can turn up the volume or bombard you with worldly desires and drown out the voice of the Spirit of God, if you allow it, by doing nothing. The enemy of your soul can get you to focus on physical possessions, money, or selfish desires—much like a simple shiny fishing lure—rather than focusing on spiritual realities when you allow your heart to be spiritually unguarded. Listen, the enemy of your soul does not believe in catch and release.
The believers were encouraged to seek God and buy gold refined in the fire, white clothes to wear to cover their nakedness, and eye salve to put on their eyes so they can see; however, the city was all too proud of their wealth, proud of their clothing trade and proud of their eye salve to give any thought to their spiritual need.
John is giving us a picture of the church of Laodicea that is much like many churches today. A church filled with believers who are spiritually content. Spiritually lukewarm, without passion or spiritual drive. Living with one foot in the world and one foot in church.
These believers felt they needed nothing. They had all the world could give along with having a false sense of spiritual security to boot.
Friends, when anything supersedes your love and passion for Jesus, you become spiritually pitiful, poor, naked, and blind.
Jesus is pursuing you. Is your heart open to Him?
The believers in Laodicea were counseled to buy gold refined by fire. Gold refined by fire is gold without impurities. It is the purest gold, and this gold is a picture of a believer’s salvation that was paid for at the cross.
The priceless blood of Christ paid the debt of my sin and your sin when we placed faith in Jesus. Our sins were washed away, and nakedness was covered as we confessed our sin and placed our faith in Christ. Only then could we put on the righteousness of Christ and cover our spiritual nakedness.
Friends, if God did not love His creation—if Jesus, God’s one and only son, did not care—we would never have been rebuked or disciplined for sin (see John 3:16-17 and Hebrews 12:5-8, 10-11).
Some nonbelievers seem to blame God when bad things happen, but—at the same time—they do not believe in God. Some Christians question God when things go different from what they expect or want. While we can’t always know or understand why God is doing something, there are times that He may be wanting to get our attention.
Sometimes, God uses situations in our lives to discipline us when we go off course. Discipline is not pleasant, and yet it has a purpose. Pain is not pleasant, but it has a purpose and that is to indicate something is wrong.
Revelation 3:19 tells us that God rebukes those he loves to awaken us spiritually to repent. But that is not all.
Jesus is persistent in his pursuit to see us repent. He stands at the door of your heart and knocks. When you open the door of your heart, Jesus will come in and fellowship together with you.
Opening the door of your heart, I believe, is equivalent to acknowledging Jesus as Lord and savior and repenting of sin. The wealth of the believers in Laodicea was a stumbling block, and it kept them from seeking God. They, like many, think money or science will solve the problems in the world, but it never does with regards to spiritual issues. Instead it only clouds the truth.
We are told that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10-13). Money, or having money, is not the problem. The love of money is the problem.
Science is not the problem, rather the idea that science or medicine are the only answers is the problem.
Possessions are not the problem. It is when the possessions possess your heart, that is the problem.
The truth is, the love of God and faith in Christ is exactly what the believers in Laodicea needed. It is the reason why they were said to be pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
Are you all-in for Jesus?
We are experiencing a virus pandemic. The virus is not a product of God’s doing—but he can use it for good. In times of trouble, people turn to God. When things are going well, they see no need for God. Israel is a good example of that.
My prayer is that during this time we will see a spiritual revival; that people will search their hearts, open the doors to their hearts, allow Jesus to come in and save them.
Friends, it is not until the light of the gospel shines a light on our sin, shame, and nakedness that we awaken to the truth and see our need to repent. It is not until we have ears to hear and eyes to see that we will even consider opening the door of our hearts to Jesus.
Jesus said: if anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with them, and they with me (Revelation 3:20).
The person who invites Jesus in is the overcomer.
It is because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, because of His love for the sinner, and the sinner’s earnest repentance and faith in Jesus, that the believer will be an overcomer and live forever with Christ in glory.
The letters to the churches in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are a warning for us today.
If you:
are not growing closer to God,
have left your first love,
have allowed false teaching to enter your heart,
have allowed immorality or a spirit of compromise regarding the things of the world,
have walked away from Jesus or become spiritually lukewarm,
then heed God’s warning to repent.
Society is not getting any better. The world is not growing closer to God. Simply look around. This nation is one of, if not the, wealthiest nation in the world and we are sinking deeper and deeper into spiritual rebellion. America was founded on Christian principles, but it has turned a back to God. Over time, we have become a nation that is spiritually lukewarm. As believers, as churches, and as a nation we need to look deep into our hearts, repent and recommit our love for Jesus and the truth of the Gospel.
As we do, it is my prayer, that as a nation we will do the same. We need ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us. Let us not have lukewarm faith.
Instead:
Let us open the door of our hearts wide and invite Jesus in.
Let us ask the Holy Spirit to direct us in how we should live.
Let us pray for the lost and our nation.
Let us look for Jesus’ return.
Come Lord Jesus, come.
Do you know Jesus personally?
Maybe you do not know Jesus as your Lord and savior. All you need to do is repent, believe He is Lord, and ask him to come into your heart. Seek Jesus with all your heart and he will direct your path. Pray that your spiritual eyes and ears are open and walk in the love and grace of God.
Thankful for a Loving Father’s Concern
This thanksgiving, let’s thank God for times He has spoken a word of rebuke to awaken us spiritually. Thank Him for His love and blessing. Thank Him for His faithfulness.
Suggested Praise and Worship
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