LAODICEA: THE WORLDLY CHURCH
#236a LAODICEA: THE WORLDLY CHURCH
Scripture Revelation 3:14-22, NIV Orig. 2/27/1966
Rewr. 3/1982; 10/23/1986
Passage: 14 “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.”
Purpose: To complete the study of Revelation letters, calling attention to the church at Laodicea as a people who were caught up in the world, and were unfaithful.
Keywords: Judgment Indifference Worldliness
Timeline/Series: Revelation Letters Laodicea
Introduction
I read the story of a little boy who, at perhaps ten years of age had made his profession of faith, and had joined the church. It was a matter of some importance to him, and he began to concern himself with how he was to act in this new role. He knew that being a Christian was special, and he was to act accordingly. His pastor came by the home for a visit one day, and it was immediately obvious that something was bothering the lad. The wise pastored inquired of his young friend’s unhappiness.
The boy responded by sharing with his pastor of an invitation to a party, and that, now that he was a Christian, he was not quite sure how to act.
Well, of course the boy was reminded that a party was a place to have fun, that he and others would be there to have a good time, that he should join in the festivities, that it would be alright for him to have a good time like anyone else there.
Several days later the pastor encountered the boy at church. “Well, Billy, how was the party last week? Did you have a good time?” To which Billy answered, “I sure did Bro. Smith, and nobody there would have ever guessed that I was a Christian.”
The church at Laodicea had the same problem. They were so interested in having a good time, in being just like everybody else, that they lived in a way that was totally foreign to their stated Christian responsibility.
I. The Worldly Church was Bankrupt. V17 “Because thou sayest, I am rich, . . . and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor.”
We are given three vital pieces of information about this church: What they thought of themselves, what God knew about them, [and] what they could do to focus their energy.
They perceived of themselves wrongly. “Because thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.” The attitude of their surroundings had caved in on them. Laodicea was the chief banking center of Asia Minor. In 61 A.D., devastated by earthquake. Refused outside help to rebuild. A glorious, cosmopolitan city. So proud of achievements, were indifferent to God’s place in their lives.
But God saw through their self-esteem. “[Thou] knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” It is not difficult to mask reality. Proverbs 16:25 “There is a way that seemeth right unto man, by the end thereof . . . way of death.” Proverbs 20:17 “Bread of deceit is sweet to a man, but afterward his mouth shall be filled with gravel.” Matthew 13:22 (Sower) “The care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and [he becometh unfruitful].”
Our society is not different from Laodicea. Athletic Director of LSU on ethics charges has been forced to resign. Ethics of governors, and congressmen not subject to such scrutiny, Things going on in the lives of congressmembers that break the heart of God. Once you start punitive action, where stop?
But as believers, there is a way to forgiveness and repatriation. V18 “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.” As in material things, the poor cannot invest, only those who have. Only those of faith can be restored. Riches are those of God’s providence. Revelation 2:9 Smyrna “I know thy . . . poverty” but I Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
II. The Worldly Church was Bare. V17 “. . . poor, and blind, and naked.”
Laodicea prided itself on its clothing trade. Barclay (R19p181)—“The garments in Laodicea were famous all over the world, and the wool of the sheep of Laodicea was a luxury article which all men knew.”1
In their spiritual destitution, they were without honor. V18, “Buy of me, white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.” They had forgotten things important: Christ’s death, and of neighbors lost without Him; the joy of the mediating Word; gift of Holy Spirit and His sustenance. Romans 12:1-2b “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, . . . . And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. . . .”
The true and only source of spiritual garments was the Lord their God. Purification comes through God’s grace. Shakespeare’s Macbeth attempts in vain to wash the blood of Duncan off his hands. “All the water in Neptune’s ocean would not wash” it away. Such personal spiritual garments are personalized through repentance. For the lost, repentance brings grace to the level of reality. For the believer, keeps us at the level of openness with our Lord about our sin. V19 “And as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
The central teaching here, is that Christ has been shut out of their fellowship. V20 “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” We use this verse to advantage with the lost. But Jesus was left out and ignored. Philadelphia (3:8), “open door” door removed. Here at Laodicea, they shut themselves in. Christ is denied His bride. Contrast I Corinthians 11:20f divided factions: some ate sumptuously, others were hungry. The One who is shut away from the table here is Christ.
III. The Worldly Church was Blind. V17 “ . . . and knowest not that thou . . . art blind.” An important industry was an ointment that was used as a balm for the eyes. They could not assess their poverty. They could not perceive their nakedness. They were blind to the limitedness of their vision. I mentioned recently the “wellhouse” experience wherein Helen Keller began to perceive of the world around her.
R.C. Trench says “The beginning of true amendment is to see ourselves as we are.” (citation unknown)
Robert Burns “O what gift the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as others see us.”
There are two potential problems. We may deny our sin in the face of God’s pronouncement of its reality. We may doubt the gift of faith to do all that the eternal Word declares. Through that Word we have, we are, we see.
The church at Laodicea was blind but not sightless. V18 “. . . Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see.” Some have recovered sight through surgery. Others are legally blind, but become sighted through special lenses. Some are miraculously restored; friend in New Iberia, after two years of blindness, awoke one morning with his sight restored.
God offers to a rebellious church the restoration of vision. Too many churches continue to shoot their wounded veterans. We are all subject to the cardinal rules of: sin, punishment, forgiveness.
Conclusion
Helen Keller stood at the podium in the chapel of Southern Seminary some years ago. She addressed the student body, and afterward answered their questions. One asked, “Miss Keller, pardon this question, but isn’t about the worst thing that can happen to someone, to be born blind?” “No,” she replied, “the worst thing that can happen is to have eyes and not be able to see.”
1 Barclay, W. (1960). The Revelation of John (2 volumes). (2nd edition.) London: The Westminster Press.