THE LAODICEANS CHURCH

THE LAODICEANS CHURCH

Introduction:  The church of Laodicea was located 100 miles east of coastal Ephesus.  Laodicea was situated along a well travelled trade route. The strategic position made the city an extremely prosperous venue for commercial, financial and medical trades of the day.  All those are good but of no spiritual values in Christ.

Laodicea was an extremely wealthy city, being renowned for its banking establishments, for its medical schools that specialized in an ointment to cure certain eye afflictions and for a luxurious clothing from the wool of its sheep flocks. A city and a church that was very self-confident and self-sufficient.

A)  The Lukewarm Church

Rev. 3:15-16 – “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.”  KJV

The Lord says the believers in Laodicean church is neither hot nor cold but lukewarm. The church was lukewarm. They lacked fervor and passion. There was no burning zeal for souls, nor a desire to press on in God for perfection. The Lord says that He is going to vomit them out of His mouth. He despises Christians that are halfhearted and non-committed and living on the perimeter. The Lord wants every believer to be fervent and totally committed to Him.

B)  The Spiritual Blind Church

 Rev. 3:17 – “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:”

The church was very proud and self-confident. They were indeed rich and increased with goods, naturally and financially. However, they lacked the true riches of Jesus Christ as they were spiritually poor, blind and naked.

The church that is lukewarm needs gold, white garments and eye salves from God in Revelation 3:18

C)  The Lukewarm Church Need  Jesus – Rev. 3:17-18

17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

Revelation 3:19-22

19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

D) The Lukewarm Church needs three things from God:

1. BUY GOLD REFINED IN THE FIRE

a) Our Working Faith is likened to Gold - 1 Peter 1:6-7 -  (NASB)

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

b) Build up Your Most Holy Faith - JUDE vs. 17-21

Maintain Your Life with God  20 “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

c) Come, Buy and Drink!

Isaiah 55:1, 2 - “Come, all of you who thirst, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost!

2 Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.

2. BUY WHITE GARMENTS ITS FREE

The Lord Jesus told them the Laodecian believers that they were naked spiritually and recommended them to buy white garments from Him. What are these white garments? The Word of God answers in the book of Revelation when it tells us about the great crowd that the Apostle John saw in heaven:

King James Bible – Rev. 19:8
“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.”

And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. (Revelation 7:9-16) (NASB)

White garments are the ornaments of the saints and they are WHITE because they were washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb who is Jesus Christ. This is what the Lord Jesus required from the saints in Laodicea – to wash their garments in His blood and whiten them.

b) Believe in Christ  Righteousness Philippians 3:8-10  -  (NKJV)

8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,”

3. ANOINT EYES WITH EYESALVE

a) How to anoint our eyes with eye salve that we may see? To see we need “eye salve” to “open our spiritual eyes”

Although Laodicea were producing the best eye salve in antiquity, the inhabitants of Laodicea, and especially those who considered themselves Christians, were blind when looking at their spiritual state. Therefore, the Lord Jesus tells them to buy eye salve from Him to see their spiritual state. The Word of God is this eye salve, as David wrote in the book of Psalms:

i)             Psalms 19:8 - “the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (NASB) 

ii)            EPHESIANS 1:18  New King James Version
“the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,”

     iii)    Proverbs 20:12   KJV
           “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the LORD hath made             even both of them.”

b) The Purpose of Jesus' Parables
…13 That  is why I speak to them in parables: ‘Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.’ 14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.’…Berean Study Bible  -  MATT. 13:14

D) The Church Must Repent

Rev. 3:19 – “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”

The Lord chasten those whom He loves. True love tells people when they are wrong, hoping that they will see the truth and change.

E) WHAT IS OUR SPIRITUAL CONDITION?

1) How much do you care about your living with God? How much time do you invest for each of them? Are you satisfied with your Christian faith? A man who is poor in spirit will never be satisfied with his spiritual condition and he wants more of God.

Cry for your faith to be perfected, your white garments be kept white and see with the “Seeing eye” and with the seven Spirit of God in Isaiah 11:2. 

2) The LORD is desiring to open our spiritual eyes MORE and MORE as He gives unto us the Spirit of Wisdom and the Spirit of Revelation  (Ephesians 1:17). He desires to give us the 7 Spirits of God in Isaiah 11:2.  Many will begin to SEE and have VISIONS like never before in the last days.

ALTAR CALL:

Let us repent of our lukewarm-ness and carelessness. Let us ask God for the fire of the Spirit to consume us so that we can be hot and vibrant for the Lord in serving Him.  Let Him cloth us with righteousness and anoint our eyes with eye salve that we may see. Let our faith be strong and faithful in these end times.