“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen—the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation: “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”
Revelation 3:14-22
Now we have to pull the pieces together for this last portion of the letter to the seven churches. We are left to unpack the message to the last church. I am sure you can see by the way it is coloured that it contains some hard hitting comments. I have made the comment already that this introduction to the last church contains no commendations at all. Neither does it have any mitigating circumstances over which the LORD could encourage the Christians of Laodicea with their reactions to the circumstances they faced. “There were no extenuating circumstances of persecution, paganism, idolatry, temple prostitutes, immorality or heresy as was the case with some of the churches at the beginning of the circular loop. Just indifference, lukewarmness like their water; complacency and self satisfaction reigned supreme.” That is a difficult report to hear about your church; not your city, your church. As we have read in the earlier part of the letter to the other churches, many of them were standing strong or trying their best to persevere amid difficult circumstances. Let’s now investigate the situation with this last church.
Notice the description of Jesus for the church in Laodicea. He is described as the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation. The first two descriptions are powerful reminders of just who Jesus is. The Amen is a reference to Christ, a Hebraism for let it be established as spoken. Let it be true. There are some people who frequently use the word “honestly” or even “honest to God”. It is like they want to reassure you that what they are saying is true; i.e. you can take it as truth that they are being honest. If you were using Greek or Hebrew and wanted to convey the idea that what you are saying is truth, you would say “amen, amen”. Jesus Himself used the expression “verily, verily”, “truly, truly I say to you.” This is what is meant by saying Jesus is ‘The Amen’.
The second expression used here “the faithful and true witness” I don’t believe needs explanation as such. Jesus is the only reliable, trustworthy witness there ever was. Do you have friends you can ask to tell you the truth about yourself? Many ‘friends’ will not dare to give it to you straight for fear of offending you or even perhaps doubting themselves if they can come right out and tell you what they think. Perhaps they don’t have it right, despite the fact they believe they are right; there is always the possibility that they are misreading you. Thus they will soften what they would really like to say in the interests of easing your pain or even to prevent ruining their friendship with you. Jesus will tell you the truth about yourself and because He is the One who knows you better than you know yourself, you can trust what He says. Not only that, you can trust Him to tell you the truth in a way that is not going to shatter you.
The third description of Jesus, as ‘the beginning of God’s new creation‘ is curious and has led some to wrongly interpret the statement. Not the least of which are the Mormons and Jehovah’s witness who come up with the outlandish interpretation that Jesus was ‘the first creature of God’s creation’. How absurd! Surely the meaning is more that it indicates He is the originator, the source, the first cause of creation. After all he is the One of Whom it is written – ‘God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.’ (John 1:3) I conclude the meaning is more akin to what John then wrote at the end of chapter 2 in his Gospel.
But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.
John 2:24-25
Jesus said to the Christians of Laodicea: “You are lukewarm; you don’t realise you are wretched and miserable, poor, blind and naked.” Imagine hearing that from the One who knows you the best. Go back and read those words again. Let them sink in and reflect on Jesus telling you that. Do you see the context of those words for the Christians of Laodicea? How apt those words were for the Laodiceans. Each of those statements was aimed directly at them. Each statement was hand-picked to impact and shake them to their core. Jesus was using shock tactics. Do you see why?
Everything Jesus said of them related to their pride and the reasons for their self-sufficiency; what they put their trust in. Jesus opening comments they knew only too well. Their water was not cold [ψυχρός – psuchros] like the water of Colossae, nor was it hot [ζεστός – zestos] like the water of Hierapolis. The water found in Laodicea was lukewarm [χλιαρός – chliaros] as well as being dirty, laden with mineral salts with the smell of sulphur. It was undrinkable and made them vomit. So Jesus tells them pointedly something they know only too well.
I will [ἐμέω – emeō] spit {spew} {vomit} you out of my mouth!
Revelation 3:16
Those are very strong words which create a vivid word picture that the Laodiceans knew only too well. The only way they could deal with the water in their city was to voluntarily spit it out to begin with; if they tried to swallow the water, it would come back up again involuntarily. They could not stomach it beyond spitting it out. That creates a graphic word picture of Jesus saying to them effectively “I can’t stand you; you make me sick with your lack of passion or “zest” for Me or the Gospel.” It would have brought to mind for them the words Jesus said to the Christians of Sardis – “You have a reputation for being alive but in reality you are dead and like corpses.” To those in Laodicea Jesus said, “You make me sick by your indifference.”
But He was not finished. Jesus went to say,
You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realise that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
Revelation 3:17
This is again similar to what was said about those in Sardis where you have a reputation or They say: I say.
Here in the case of Laodicea it’s You say: I say.
You think you are | But you actually are |
---|---|
I am rich | wretched |
I have everything I want | miserable |
I don’t need a thing | poor |
blind | |
naked |
καὶ οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι σὺ εἶ ὁ ταλαίπωρος καὶ ἐλεεινὸς καὶ πτωχὸς καὶ τυφλὸς καὶ γυμνός,
and not {you know} that you are the wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked
The way Jesus has put their reality draws attention to or emphasises their sorry state with a string of adjectives which are governed by one article “the” or “the one who is . . .” The reference to the people is set in the singular and not the plural. Jesus is not saying you Laodiceans collectively are these things. But you (individually / personally) think you (sing) are rich and have all you (sing) need. Where in reality you individually are as follows:-
ταλαίπωρος (talaipōros) – miserable, suffering, in hardship, troubled or in trouble. [while thinking you are rich and have all you want or need]
ἐλεεινὸς (eleeinos) – pitiable, wretched, without grace, in need of mercy, with no evidence of blessing [while thinking you are blessed]
πτωχὸς (ptōchos) – poor, like beggars, indigent, needy, lacking help [believing you are rich, the keepers of the gold]
τυφλὸς (tuphlos) – blind, smokey, opaque, lacking clear sight, see only in the shadows [thinking you see all things clearly]
γυμνός (gumnos) – naked, nude, laid bare, without clothing, partially clad, insufficiently clothed [believing you are clothed in the finest of wool]
After all of the above, then Jesus gives his counsel which is very ironic.
So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.
Revelation 3:18-19
Did you pick up on the irony? Jesus tells them to buy three things from Him.
- Purified Gold
- White Garments
- Eye Ointment
Doesn’t it strike you as odd that they are recommended to buy three things that are products of Laodicea. They would likely say, “But why should we buy those things from you when we own them already? We have those things in abundance here in Laodicea and that is what made us rich.” Jesus would likely say to them, “You are missing the point. Go and read Isaiah 55.”
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.”
Isaiah 55:1-3
You have to deal in the currency of heaven. Your problem is that you don’t have gold refined by fire. You think you are rich but you are not rich toward heaven. Your gold will do you no good. Your black woollen clothes are not what you need. You need to buy white clothes to fit you for heaven. Your eye ointment won’t help you see into the spiritual realms. You have scales on your eyes. You don’t realise you are poor, blind and naked and don’t know it or see it. Indeed you are naked but you are not aware of it. You think you are good Christians but you are not aware that you are poor, your gold is not refined by heaven’s fire. You are afraid of My testing and My discipline. I correct and discipline everyone I love. Furthermore, each one of My commodities cannot be purchased. You have to submit to My ways and My correction and discipline. Your shameful nakedness is not the nakedness of the individual being unclothed; it is the shame of My body the church of Laodicea which is unresponsive and asleep in My Light and My Glory. You are a shameful pretence of a church of Mine and are not aware of it. You make me sick as long as you remain unaware of your true condition.
Behold, Look, I stand at the door and knock, outside the church. Yet you do not hear My voice. Wake up and earnestly seek Me before it is too late. In the next Gem we will explore the well known statement of Revelation 3:20. A verse we know well; but do we know it in the context in which it was written. Oh there is much debate about Revelation 3:20. In the meantime ponder the content of this Gem and ask the Lord to give you His evaluation of you and your church. Are you a laodicean Christian who is unaware that you are poor, blind and naked?
I Would Rather Have You Hate Me For Telling You The Truth Than For You To Love Me For Telling You Lies.
Robb Thompson
The challenge in “if you are lukewarm I will spit you out of my mouth” is that God wants white-hot commitment from us.
Ian
The most dangerous response to the Gospel for you personally to adopt is indifference.
Ian
The difference between making a difference, and making no difference is Indifference.
Brian Houston
What a heartbreak it would be to live an ‘almost’ Christian life, then ‘almost’ get into heaven.
Greg Laurie