Church of the Laodiceans Revelation 3:14-24 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Church of the Laodiceans
Notice the Church “OF” the Laodiceans – 14 – whereas the other churches are churches “IN” whatever place they are in – this shows you that the people think they own the church [Laos – the common people, from which we get the word “laity” – dikaios – righteousness – therefore the combined word means “human rights” or “civil rights”] – the church is the Lord’s not the peoples’ – this church is very similar to the church in the latter portion of the church age right before the rapture
The identification of the speaker – 14 – He is:
- The Amen – Jesus Christ – the final word – Revelation 22:21
- The faithful and the true – Revelation 19:11
- The beginning of the creation of God – not the first thing that God created but the one who began creation [John 1:1-3] – consider Colossians 1:15 – not the first thing that was born but rather he is the firstborn of every creature that is born in the image of God [2 Corinthians 5:17] (he existed before he was born [Jn 8:58] and he wasn’t born until he was born of Mary) – Adam was not born, he was made [Genesis 1:26] and everyone born after him was born in Adam’s image not God’s [Genesis 5:3, 1 Corinthians 15:22] – everyone born again [John 3:3-8] is born in God’s image [1 John 3:1-3, 1 Corinthians 15:49] and Jesus was the first one “born” in His image
The evaluation of the church – evaluated based upon their works like the other churches – this church is not good
Lukewarm – 15-16 – neither cold nor hot [apply ice to an injury to reduce the inflammation – apply heat to an injury to promote healing – lukewarm does nothing] – God is an extremist – heaven or hell – sin or righteousness – saved or lost – cold or hot – but this church is blended [the way you get lukewarm water is to mix hot and cold – the way you get the church of the Laodiceans is that you mix the church and the world] – for something that you eat or drink, you either have hot tea or iced tea, but not watered down lukewarm yucky tea – you either have really hot Starbuck’s coffee or frappuccino, but not lukewarm yucky room temperature coffee – you’d spit it out – and that’s what the Lord does with this church – they had cooled off [when we are going strong for the Lord we say “we’re on fire for God”]
The Perceived Condition of this Church – 17
This church is in desperate need and doesn’t even know it – they are blinded by the fact that they have money and resources and conclude that they are in good shape when in fact they cannot see their true condition
They think that:
- They are rich – Proverbs 23:4-5; 1 Timothy 6:9-10 – riches fly away – love of money is the root of all evil
- They are increased with goods – Matthew 6:19-21; Luke 12:15 – earthly treasures and abundance
- They have need of nothing – Matthew 6:8, 32-33; Philippians 4:19 – Our Father is the supplier of all that we need and we are constantly in need
The True Condition of this Church:
- Wretched – Romans 7:24 Paul said that he was a wretched man – imagine how wretched we must be
- Miserable – 1 Corinthians 15:19 – the most miserable man is the one who only has hope in Christ in this lifetime – these guys had sacrificed the eternal on the altar of the temporal
- Poor – Ecclesiastes 5:13-15 naked shall he return to go as he came – goes out with nothing
- Blind – 2 Peter 1:5-9 [9] – blind when you lack faith, virtue, knowledge …
- Naked – 2 Corinthians 5:2-3 they won’t be clothed upon with their heavenly tabernacle
The Counsel to this Church – 18
- Buy gold tried in the fire that they may be rich – similar to the Judgment Seat of Christ where gold represents deity – therefore things done for the glory of God are gold – like 1 Corinthians 10:31 and Revelation 14:7, 1:13, 16:9
- Buy white raiment that they may be clothed and not appear naked – 2 Corinthians 5:2-3, Revelation 19:8
- Anoint their eyes with eye salve that they may see – faith in the words of God Matthew 13:13-17, Hebrews 11:1, 13 notice how they could see things that were not seen
Call to Repentance – 19 – the Lord gives them this rebuke and chastening because he loves them – the correct response is to be zealous and repent
The Individual Invitation – 20 – Jesus is on the outside of this church, so he knocks on the door offering individual fellowship for anyone who will let him in – we use this as a soul winning invitation but truthfully this is a tribulation verse addressed to individuals in the church and to the church as a whole
A Promise to those who overcome – 21 – Jesus will grant those who overcome to sit with him in his throne [church age saints are already seated with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus Ephesians 2:6] – Currently, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God [Hebrews 1:3, 12:2] but when John sees him in Revelation 4:2, 9-11 and Revelation 7:17, he sees one throne, the throne of God, and the Father let Jesus sit with him in his throne – during the Millennium, Jesus will have his own throne in the earth [Heb 1:8, Matthew 19:28, Matthew 25:31, this is David’s throne Isaiah 9:6-7] – and as he was able to sit with his Father in the midst of his throne, likewise he will let the tribulation saints that overcome sit with him in his throne – and from the Millennium on, the throne that was in heaven will be referred to as the throne of God and of the Lamb [Revelation 22:1-3].