The Seven Churches - Laodicea

Notes from our Wednesday night Bible Study...

Revelation 3:14-22

Laodicea

• Situation
• In a very fertile valley.
• The great Roman road that ran straight through the middle of the city.
• This combined to make Laodicea a very wealthy city.
• It was an important city for trade and communication.
• Laodicea was so wealthy that when it was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 61, the Laodiceans refused aid from Rome for rebuilding.
• It was an attitude of self-sufficiency.
• It was tradition and old money.
• In all honesty it was nothing more than pride.

Verse 14

• Jesus is the Amen
• Amen means “so be it.”
• He’s the man.
• There is no one greater to believe or trust in.
• The faithful and true witness
• He accurately testifies of God the Father.
• He said that if you see him you see the Father.
• He is the exact representation of who God is. (Heb 1)
• Ruler of God’s creation
• This is so because he made everything.
• John 1:3
• Heb 1 – he sustains all things by his powerful word.
• He’s the man, he is right, and he rules.
• The people in Laodicea were very prideful and self-sufficient.
• But Jesus is saying here, “You better listen to me.”

Verse 15

• Once again, “I know your deeds.”
• But just like the church in Philadelphia, he wasn’t concerned about their deeds.
• He doesn’t start talking about their deeds at all.
• He goes straight to the heart of the matter.
• You are neither…(15,16)
• The issue is not their deeds—what they were doing or not doing.
• The issue is their heart.
• Is your heart right or is it not.
• If it is, great.
• If it’s not, get it right.
• But don’t play both sides.
• He used the imagery of lukewarm water.
• Laodicea, despite its wealth, had poor water.
• They had to build a six-mile long aqueduct that stretched south to a water source.
• It either started off at a hot spring or a cold spring.
• Whichever it was, by the time it made the six-mile trip to Laodicea it was lukewarm.
• It was also unfit to drink.
• They had to treat their water in order to drink it.
• Drinking the lukewarm water straight from the aqueduct would make you sick and induce vomiting.
• When Jesus said that he would spew them out of his mouth, he was saying that lukewarm Christians make him sick and want to vomit!
• He’s saying, “Pick one!”
• Serve me or don’t.
• But don’t play both sides.
• It’s better to be all the way out than only half-way in.
• The church in Laodicea was enjoying comfort and prosperity.
• They were not being persecuted like the other churches we talked about.
• They we self-satisfied.
• They were accommodated.
• All of the other churches in the area were being persecuted.
• How could it be that this one was not?
• Compromise with the world.
• Enjoying the pleasures of the world.
• The Bible says that friendship with the world puts you at odds with God.

Verse 17 – we see their attitude

• Look at us!
• They had adopted the same self-sufficient, prideful attitude as the rest of the town.
• They had all the money to do anything they wanted.
• But they didn’t have God.
• And since they didn’t have God, they didn’t have anything.
• God is the source for everything.
• It’s not money.
• He said, “You think you’re rich, but you don’t have a thing.”
• They had prominent members, beautiful facilities, and large bank accounts.
• They said, “We don’t need anything else.”
• They lost sight of what they were there for.
• Their focus was on “we.”
• Like some kind of exclusive club.
• Hosea 12:8
• As if wealth made them above the law.
• That’s the same attitude the church in Laodicea had.
• A lot of people would look at that church and call it successful.
• The Laodiceans no doubt did.
• But God measures success differently than we do.
• Not by what we have.
• But by our heart and what we are doing for him.

Verse 18

• They truly could not see themselves.
• Have you heard about the story of the Emperors new clothes?
• That’s how God saw the church in Laodicea.
• Gold
• Laodicea was rich in gold.
• But earthly gold could not compare to true riches in Christ.
• White clothes.
• Laodicea was known for its production of black wool.
• Earthly garments cannot cover up sin.
• Only the white garment of purity and righteousness that comes from Jesus can cover our sins.
• Salve for their eyes
• There was a popular ointment manufactured in Laodicea that was commonly used to cure eye infections.
• Jesus said, “If you really want to see straight, come to me.”
• All this stuff they leaned on—their own wealth and self-sufficiency—could not do a thing for them.
• They are only a shadow.
• The only things they need are found in Jesus.
• So he was giving a stern rebuke in order to turn them back around.

Verse 19

• When Jesus disciplines us, it’s not for our shame, but for our redemption.
• It’s because he loves us that he disciplines us.
• Anyone who is a parent knows this.
• He had some hard words for Laodicea, but it got there attention.

• In verse 20 he said, “Here I am.”
• I’m not turning my back on you.
• Finish verse.
• He’s not going to force his entry.
• But he will keep knocking and calling.
• “I know you’re in there!”
• “Open the door and we’ll share a meal together.”
• What Jesus wants here is true fellowship with us.
• Straight from the heart.
• He’s not found in a beautifully ornate stained-glass window inlaid with gold.
• He’s found at home—at the dinner table.
• I love having people over and just sitting around the kitchen table.
• We’ll have coffee, play games, talk and laugh.
• That’s the kind of relationship Jesus wants with us.
• Laodicea had forsaken that kind of fellowship.
• Traded it in for political correctness and comfort.

Verses 21-22

• If you sit with me now in fellowship around the dinner table, you will sit with me later on my throne in Heaven.
• One day many people are going to stand before God and say, “Look at us—look what we did for you, Lord.”
• But what will Jesus say?
• Depart from me, I never knew you.
• We didn’t have fellowship together.
• You were certainly busy.
• But when I knocked and called to you, you didn’t have time for me.
• But he who overcomes to the end and builds that intimate relationship with me…