Today we read the last of the seven
letters from Jesus to a church in what’s now modern-day Turkey, namely the one
in Laodicea. Once again, here’s some background from MacArthur: “Located in the
Lycus River Valley, the SW area of Phrygia, Laodicea became the wealthiest,
most important commercial center in the region. It was primarily known for 3
industries: banking, wool, and medicine (notably its eye salve). An inadequate
local water supply forced the city to build an underground aqueduct. All 3
industries, as well as the inadequate water supply, played a major part in this
letter. The church began through the ministry of Epaphras, while Paul was
ministering in Ephesus (cf. Col
1:7; Paul never personally visited Laodicea).” Let’s see what we can learn
here, shall we?
Remember what I said about there
being a broad-range of quality in the churches here? The one in Philadelphia, while
not perfect, apparently didn’t merit any specific criticism in this venue,
while the one in Sardis was almost a worst-case scenario, rating a “almost as
bad as it can be” on the scale. Well, today’s the worst-case scenario. All of the others had something good that
Christ could say about them. Not here.
This is coming from “the Amen.” In
case you didn’t know, the word “Amen” is Hebrew meaning “let it be so” or
affirming the truth of the statement attached to it. Jesus
is the One through whom all the Lord’s promises have been or will be fulfilled.
When God promises 1) grace towards the repentant and 2) judgment on the
unrepentant, both are fulfilled through Christ. This is echoed in the fact that
one of his titles is “the faithful and true witness.” This title appears again near the end of the book when he returns in power and glory to officially claim
his Kingdom. Even right now, still awaiting the consummation of all things, he’s
already “the ruler of God’s creation.”
All this is to emphasize that when the
Lord Jesus says something, he’s perfectly willing and able to back it up.
His actual message to them begins
with a phrase that he’s said before in each of his other six letters: “I know.
. .” He
knows. He knows their deeds. He knows what they’ve been doing. He knows
their hearts inside-out and backwards and forwards: “Nothing
in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid
bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” And what was his
response to what he saw going on at this church?
He was disgusted. They made him sick
to his stomach. He was ready to spit or vomit them out.
Once again some background would be
useful. I remember the inimitable Dr. Potts at East Texas Baptist University,
who talked about this subject while we were all on an educational trip to
Turkey, where we visited the sites of most of the churches listed in Revelation
2-3. Nearby Hierapolis was famous for its hot springs, which supposedly worked
wonders for things like arthritis and similar ailments. At the very least,
their hot springs were incredibly relaxing, but you couldn’t drink the water
there because it was foul-tasting or even poisonous. On the other side of
Laodicea was the city of Colossae, which of course was the place to which Paul
wrote the epistle to the Colossians. Colossae was famous for its refreshing
cold water from mountain streams. But as mentioned before, Laodicea didn’t have
any good local water sources, so they tried to build aqueducts from Colossae
and Hierapolis to provide water. But the waters from the two sources mixed, and
by the time it reached Laodicea it was—you might have guessed by now—just tepid,
nasty-tasting water that no one could drink or
bathe in. If you tried to drink it, you. . .well, you tended to spit or vomit it out. If
swallowed, it could easily make you sick to your stomach.
We need to delve a little deeper
into his phrase:I wish you were either [hot] or [cold]!" The interpretation that I’ve always heard, which seems to be the majority
conclusion, is that “hot” and “cold” refer to spiritual fervor or lack thereof.
In this paradigm, the ideal is to be “hot” for Christ, serving him with all our
heart, mind, soul and strength. “Cold”--referring to openly rejecting him--is
certainly not commendable, but it’s something that Jesus can work with. You
could accuse pre-conversion Saul of a lot of things, but lukewarmness wasn’t
one of them. No one could mistake him for being a fence-sitter as he traveled
town to town to round up more Christians to arrest. The explanation is that Christ
would rather us be openly rejecting him or even opposing him over the tepidity
of the Laodicean church.
That’s certainly not a bad explanation.
Christ doesn’t exactly explain what he means by the imagery. However. . . I did
just come across another interpretation. It’s a new one to me, which ipso facto raises caution. But I’ll let the study notes on the NET Bible present
it and make its case: “The metaphor in the text is not meant to relate
spiritual fervor to temperature. This would mean that Laodicea would be
commended for being spiritually cold, but it is unlikely that Jesus would
commend this. Instead, the metaphor condemns Laodicea for not providing
spiritual healing (being hot) or spiritual refreshment (being cold) to those
around them. It is a condemnation of their lack of works and lack of witness.” To
be perfectly frank, I lean slightly closer to this one, while of course
allowing that one’s particular interpretation of this is certainly not
essential.
The amazing thing that sticks out to
me is the pathetic self-delusion here. They thought they were rich and healthy,
but the Lord Jesus, with his all-piercing fiery gaze, saw the truth. They were as pitiable as possible: They were spiritually impoverished, naked, and blind. They
thought they had everything they needed, but nothing could’ve been further from the truth.
What to do? Go to Christ.
On true wealth, health, and
enlightenment, he has a full monopoly: He’s
the only game in town. You might think you’re wonderfully enlightened, but
without the
Light of the world, you’re stumbling around in the dark, heading for unseen
disaster. You might be so healthy that doctors use you as the standard to go by, but if you’re not on the right side of
Christ, you’re worthy of pity. You could be rich enough to buy and sell
Bill Gates on a whim, but if you’re not in a right relationship with Christ, you’re
playing a fool’s game. I mean that quite literally: God calls
you a fool.
Now we come to one of the
cringe-inducing verses in all of Scripture. I know I know I know. Verse 20 is
one which countless evangelists have used to bring countless souls to saving
faith in Christ. Hey, if you’re using Scripture and God is blessing your
efforts, who am I to question that? Unless you’re doing something blatantly
unscriptural, the last thing I want to do is pour any cold water on it (pun not
intended). As our Savior put
it, “Wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
However, the context for vs. 20 is not mainly meant as an invitation to a lost
individual to receive Christ as Savior into his individual heart. In this
context, Jesus is standing at the door of a church and asking to be let in.
By their lukewarmness, by their deluding themselves into thinking they were
fine, they had shut Jesus out of his own church. Yikes!
He was asking for someone on the
inside of this church to invite him back in. If they did, he’d walk back in and
have a meal with them. From the look of things, apparently this church didn’t
have one sincere believer. But he loved them, each and every one, and through
this letter he’s pleading with them to listen to his voice before it’s too
late. If they do, if they open the door, he has some wonderful promises for
them. Yes, he’ll come in and have fellowship with them, but more than that he’ll
“give the right to sit with [him] on [his] throne, just as [he] was victorious
and sat down with [his] Father on his throne.” In a couple of days we celebrate our Savior coming down into utter humiliation for us. The next time he comes, however, there won't be any cute manger scenes. There will be angels, but this time they won't be telling anyone "Don't be afraid, I've got great news for you!" No, these will be angels with swords, and it'll finish with not-so-happy endings for
everyone who’s opposed him. This time he’s coming in power and glory to
officially claim his Kingdom. And if you belong to him, you’ll share in all
that. He won’t be ashamed
to call you brother or sister, and what he owns, you’ll have
a piece of.
I apologize for going on a bit long
today, but this seemed to too important to take a chance on giving this passage
short-shrift. If you don’t belong to Christ or if you’re not sure, please read this. If you do belong to Christ but you
still hear his warning that some of this might apply to you, then rest assured that his voice to you right now is proof that he
loves you. Please read his promises here,
and claim them as your own.
Lord Jesus, it’s a fact of life with no
exceptions: When I let myself slide away from you, nothing but bad comes of it.
You’re my life, my hope, and my song. Make me be both refreshing and healing to
those around me. Please.
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