Letter to Laodicea
(Revelation 3:14-22)
Introduction:
The name Laodicea either means the people ruling or the judgment of the people. Founded by Antiochus II of Syria in 250 B.C. He named the city after his wife, Laodice, who poisoned him later.
Located on the main route between Ephesus and Syria, the city was well-known as a commercial and financial center, a large manufacturing center, and medical schools. We have learned that the Apostle Paul struggled to help this unstable church (see Colossians 2:1). In Rev. 3:15-17 we learn that God seems to be nauseated with this lukewarm congregation and warns them that He will spew (spit) them out of His mouth. He would have been pleased with either cold or hot but their lukewarm condition He would not tolerate.
(V14) "And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;"
(V14) In this verse the Lord Jesus Christ speaks of Himself as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. As the Amen, He is the embodiment of faithfulness and truth, and the One who guarantees and fulfills the promise of God. Jesus is also the divine architect of God's creation both material and spiritual. This doesn't mean that Jesus was the first person to be created; He was never created. Instead it means that He was the creator and origin of all things, and He is pre-eminent over all creation (see John 3:3 and Colossians 1: 15-18)
(V15) "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor not: I would thou wert cold or hot."
(V15) Once again Jesus Christ tells the congregation at Laodicea that He knows all about them especially their works. The church of Laodicea was neither cold nor hot. It was nauseatingly lukewarm. His preference for them would have been the extreme one way or the other in their disinterest or passion, but that was not the condition here. It was lukewarm enough to deceive people into thinking that it was a faithful church of Jesus Christ, and so utterly unpleasant about sacred things to nauseate God Almighty. In addition, the church was recognized for being prideful, ignorant, self sufficient, and complacent.
(V16) "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth."
(V16) Here the Lord reveals to them the stiff penalty for trying to deceive the people by making them think they were God's true church and hiding their hypocrisy by their works.
(V17) "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
(V17) In this verse we must return to the Smyrna church, the second of the 7 churches, and show a comparison to the church in Laodicea, the seventh and last church. The second church thought they were poor, but the Lord told them they were rich. The seventh church thought they were rich, but the Lord told them they were poor.
(V18) "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
(V18) Here the Lord counsels them to buy of Him gold tried in the fire that they may be rich (read the following scriptures: Zechariah 13:9; Job 23:10; Isaiah 13:12; I Peter 1:7); and white raiment, which represents the righteous deeds of the saints that thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see.
(V19) "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous threfore, and repent."
(V19) Here the one that told them about their lukewarmness is now indicating to the Laodiceans that He loves them and offers a way out of their situation. That's the way our Lord works today. He first lines us out through the hearing of the word and causes us to realize that we are sinners. Then after we confess our sins, denounce our sins, and turn away from our sins the Holy Spirit gently puts the abundant life within our reach, and with loving arms He pulls us into God's eternal love.
(V20) "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if anyone hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."
(V20) Now the multitudes are gone. The apostles are no longer there and we find Him alone on the outside of the church knocking on the door and offering to come in and have supper with anyone who would open the door, but nobody comes and the door is never opened. This truly is the condition of many churches today.
(V21) "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
(V21) The Lord gave the overcomers in the church the golden oportunity to sit with Him in His throne, even as He overcame and set down with His father in His throne.
(V22) "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
(V22) In this last verse, the Holy Spirit gives His familiar call to all the churches to hear what He has to say to them.
Now that we have come through the things which John had seen, and the things which were at the time of the Apostle John, now we are going into the things which shall be hereafter the Laodicean Church Age. The next event on God's prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the church (Revelation 4:1; I Corinthians 15:51-55; I Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Dear Reader, It is our sincere prayer that you will be among the missing after the Rapture and if someone knocks on your door there will be no one to answer.
Are YOU Rapture Ready??
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