The church with a bad taste in Jesus’ mouth
Revelation 3:14-21

Intro:
Good morning.
Today I am going to go on to the another of the letters in the book of Revelation. We looked at Ephesus who had forsaken her first love, Smyrna which suffered, Sardis who was dead, and today Laodicea. As I mentioned in the prior lessons I will refer to a lot of text but I will not necessarily read everything and may paraphrase some.
I have another old story I’d like to tell: A newly appointed elder was visiting the homes of the members. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. So he took out a card and wrote ‘Revelation 3:20’ on the back of it and stuck it in the door. When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, ‘Genesis 3:10’. Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock.’ Genesis 3:10 reads, ‘I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked.’

I wonder today what excuse we would give if Jesus came knocking at our door. This makes the fourth in this series on the seven churches of Asia Minor. And I don’t know about you but I have personally felt really challenged at times, not only to exam myself and my walk with Christ but also challenged in terms of being a part of the Lord’s church.

I. Revelation 3:14 - “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write.” Out of all the churches written to in Revelation I think it’s sad that the church in Laodicea has been the most studied and preached. The church that made famous the shocking saying of Jesus, ‘I will spew you out of my mouth!’
a. The town itself lay around 43 miles southeast of Philadelphia and the Laodiceans composed a rich community. They were famous for glossy black woolen garments and for their famous eye--ointment. This ointment was exported all over the world in tablet form. It was then ground into powder and used to relieve eye complaints. Phrygia was one of the areas in Asia Minor where eye diseases were rampant.
b. The city is located in the Lycus River Valley together with Hierapolis and Colossae. <Co-la-see> This valley is a natural route of travel from east to west. The city was founded by the Seleucid <sell-lew-sid> king Antiochus II and named for his wife Laodice <lay–odd–a–see> about 260 BC.
c. Laodicea had an aqueduct and the water that was piped to Laodicea was rich with calcium and other minerals which over time would cause the pipes to clog. The engineers designed the aqueduct with vents covered with stones which could be removed periodically for cleaning.
d. There were also many stadiums, one which is still preserved today. This one at Laodicea was built by Nicostratus <nick-o-strat-us> and dedicated to Vespasian in AD 79 according to an inscription found in it. The stadium is circular at both ends and the total complex was 900 feet long. Used primarily for running races, the length of the track was 600 feet.
e. The city was a popular retirement area for the wealthy. Because these people had retired, they were at leisure and figured they had reached their goal. As a result, they were fairly indifferent to social issues. One historian, Ramsay, describes Laodicea as a city of no extremes; a city that had no peculiar characteristics unless this lack of character was its character.
f. Now this church was planted and received the Gospel not from the apostle Paul but from his helper Epaphras <epa-fris> during the time Paul was in Ephesus. Colossians 4:12-13- “Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.”
II. Let’s get into our text for today to discover what Jesus has to say to this congregation. Revelation 3:14 “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;” [KJV]
a. Jesus begins by describing Himself as the ‘Amen’. Usually when we think of the word, Amen, we automatically think it means ‘so be it.’ But here it doesn’t mean that, in describing Himself as the ‘Amen’ Jesus is saying that He is the firm One, the definite One. In other words, Jesus is the One who is steady and unchangeable in all His purposes and promises. In like manner He also says, ‘He is the faithful and true witness.’
b. As we go through this letter you will see there was nothing distinctive about the Laodiceans. They had no ‘witness’ and they were not faithful to the testimony they had concerning Jesus. They really stood for nothing, they weren’t concerned with heresy, and they weren’t concerned about being heretics. After all to become a heretic takes energy, and they didn’t have any energy.
i. Jesus says, He is the faithful and true witness, whose testimony of God, to men, ought to be received and fully believed. But Jesus also has another testimony and that is the testimony of men to God and that too will be fully believed because Jesus is the true witness.
ii. Notice how else Jesus describes Himself. The KJV uses the words, ‘The beginning of the creation of God’ which can be very misleading. You see the word ‘beginning’ here doesn’t mean that Jesus was the first thing created as some people like to believe. Remember what is said in the letter to the Colossians, Colossians 1:16-17 - “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” [KJV]
iii. Also remember Hebrews 1:1-2 - “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;” [KJV]
c. Jesus is reminding the rich, self-reliant church in Laodicea where all the blessings come from. I don’t know if you have ever seen a wild pig eating acorns. But those animals just eat and eat and eat and they never once look up to the tree to see where the acorns are coming from. Pigs are expected to eat the acorns without looking up to see the source but people are supposed to be better than pigs, aren’t they? Look at Matthew 5:45 - “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”
d. Every human being is blessed by God, but how many look up to the heavens to give thanks to God? How many people actually recognize that the Creator of the sun and the rain is the One who gives us these things?
e. This indeed was the problem in the church in Laodicea, it was their church, not the Lord’s. Jesus immediately identifies their problem and it was a problem of possession. It was their church and they showed that by doing as they pleased. They did not consider the will of the Lord.
f. We also need to grasp this concept. There are times Christians act and talk like the church belongs to them and not the Lord. There are times when some Christians are just too quick to judge who is right with the Lord and who isn’t. Jesus says He is the steady, Unchangeable One; He is the One who is faithful and He is the true witness. He is the One who is the source of all blessings and it’s His church, not ours.
III. Let us continue in Revelation 3:15-16- “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” [KJV]
a. Once again we’re reminded that Jesus sees and knows everything that every Christian is doing or not doing and He sees the congregation as a whole. He says, you Christians in Laodicea are ‘neither cold nor hot but lukewarm’. They were lukewarm, which doesn’t mean they were going from cold to hot but they were actually going from hot to cold.
b. I don’t know about you but there is something unpalatable about lukewarm water. Whenever I have tasted it, I always want to spit it back out of my mouth because it tastes bad.
c. Archaeology shows Laodicea’s aqueduct probably carried water from hot mineral springs some five miles south, which would have become tepid before entering the city. Great for having a bath in but horrible to drink. But let me ask you, do you think Jesus would want them to become cold? Would He really rather have had them cold as to lukewarm?
d. Well, that’s what He said and maybe He said it that way simply to stress the horror of their position. What was their position? They were neither hot nor cold. In their present state they couldn’t claim they hadn’t known, they couldn’t claim that they have never been moved. In that way, it would have been better for them never to have been moved than having been moved to become moderate.
e. Let me reference 2 Peter 2:21 were Peter tells us concerning false teachers; “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.”
f. To these lukewarm Christians Jesus says, you are neither cold nor hot but lukewarm and because of that, I’m going to reject you, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth. Here is a church which had lost their passion for the things of the Lord.
i. They had become indifferent and apathetic. They had reached a place where they were going through the motions, but they were unmoved by the things of the Lord. They didn’t care too much about the cross of Jesus, they weren’t really interested in what the Word of God meant. They didn’t really care about the condition of the lost people around them.
ii. These Christians were not burning hot with passion for Jesus, neither were they totally dead and cold, they were somewhere in between. Folks we must not underestimate the dangers of becoming a church like this. You know the kind of church I’m talking about, don’t you?
iii. The kind of church where the people believe the right things, and they come in and out of the worship assembly but they aren’t any different or inspired when it’s through. They’ve heard it all before and are totally unmoved by it. That sort of congregation is a difficult and frustrating church to work with.
g. Would you not personally rather work with an ice cold church under which the Lord could build a spiritual fire? Or a church that had too much zeal, which the Lord could direct, than to try and work a bunch of people that are just satisfied with what they are doing and where they are at?
i. It is that kind of church which is the hardest kind of church to move for the Lord. Where Christians just don’t care, if people are saved, fine. If they aren’t, that’s fine too. If the preaching is good, great, if not, well, that’s OK too. Those are difficult attitudes to work with folks because that kind of church misrepresents the Lord.
ii. We know that Jesus was a man of passion and He was on fire and it showed in His life and ministry. His disciples were passionate men and they lived lives burning with passion for the Lord Jesus. If the church here at Chardon ever becomes indifferent and unmoved and unconcerned, and so ultimately gives a false impression of the Lord, I pray that the Lord will forgive us and help us get out of that mind-set.
IV. Let us continue in verse 17; Revelation 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:”
a. Someone said, ‘Let your words be few and sweet. It’s better this way when you have to eat them.’
b. Another asked the question; How many of us open our mouths only to change feet? You see the trouble with God is, He always hears what we say and He has this tremendous memory. The trouble with us is, we have such large mouths and so little worth the saying. This church said of themselves, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’
c. Jesus said of His apostles and still says to us today in John 15:5 -, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
d. The church in Laodicea is guilty of the ‘atheism of the dollar’. Now what do I mean by that? What I mean is, in come the dollars and out goes God. This is a church that thought it could buy its way to congregational success. We still see this happening in congregations today. Congregations hire the best preacher, they hire best youth minister. The meetings will be held by the best visiting evangelist. Congregations try to build the fanciest or finest building. And there are many smaller examples of the same thinking. With this all accomplished the results are bound to follow, with God or without Him and no doubt, ‘results’ will follow. Right?
e. God says in, Psalm 50:12 - “…for the world is mine, and all that is in it.” The Laodiceans say, ‘we are rich.’ God says in Genesis 1 ‘let there be’ and the Laodiceans said, ‘we need nothing.’ Jesus tells them they are, ‘wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.’
i. Can you imagine how you would have felt if Jesus had written these words to you? You go and speak to a well-educated man and tell him he is ignorant and knows nothing and see what kind of reaction you get. You go and speak to the wealthiest person in the world and tell them that their money is actually just made of paper. In your imagination think of the reaction of Barack Obama if he goes to a hotel only to be told that his room was never reserved for him and someone else is in it.
ii. I have told this story before. It took place at a small church in Scotland that was informed the prime minister would be attending their service on Sunday. The preacher was advised by the elders to preach something appropriate. So he did and then he went on to say that ‘if the prime minister doesn’t repent of his sins and turn to God, he would go to hell.’
f. The truth is we all hate to see ourselves for how we really are. Jesus says to this church, ‘You are not rich, you are totally poor’. He says, ‘You are not blessed, you are wretched’. ‘Pitiful is what you are’, Jesus says.
g. All the Laodicians’ wonderful medicine for which they were famous, to help eye complaints can’t help them, they are blind. The beautiful black, shiny garments they made which covered the bodies of so many, even in foreign lands, can’t hide their own embarrassing nakedness. Folks, these are strong words, and we need to remember that how we see ourselves may not be how God sees us.
V. Jesus goes on to say in Revelation 3:18- “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.”
a. The town of Laodicea had a banking centre but sadly its vaults didn’t hold the gold of God. Their gold was the type of perishable gold which Peter describes in 1 Peter 1:18. Yes like I mentioned a moment ago, their black garments covered the body but as we know, God’s white garments cover the soul.
b. Then I’m reminded of 1 Samuel 16:7- “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” [KJV] Jesus sees and looks at the heart. Their famous eye medicine can’t make them see them as they really are. Now like I said, these are strong words and we need to ask ourselves why is Jesus saying all this?
VI. In Revelation 3:19- “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” [NIV]
a. We all know that discipline is needed spiritually as much as it is needed physically. Our Scripture reading this morning was Hebrews 12:4-13 and we saw very clearly the reason why obedience and discipline are so necessary. We know that God wants to mold us and help us to look more and more like His Son Jesus. We need to understand that discipline is not something God does to us but discipline is something which God does for us.
i. Hebrews 5:7-8- “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.” [NIV]
ii. If God did that for Jesus, and for our benefit, don’t we want God to have His way with us to help us grow in obedience to Him? I like the way it is put in the little book of James; James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” [KJV]
b. Man’s problem is that we want to get out of the trial too early, we want it over and done with. We are impatient. But God is working in us, and because He loves us, He is trying to produce perseverance in our lives, He is trying to help us become mature so that we lack nothing. When discipline comes our way, it may be because we’re heading off in the wrong direction and we may need to think seriously about it and turn towards God again.
VII. Jesus goes on to say in Revelation 3:20 - “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.”
a. I read a story some time ago about a little girl who was with her father at an art gallery. They both stopped to look at the portrait of ‘Jesus knocking at the door’ by William Holman Hunt. Jesus looked a little weary and she wanted to know from her irreligious father who the doorknocker was. ‘Jesus’ he said rather sharply. ‘Is he tired?’ she asked. ‘Looks like it,’ he answered more patiently. ‘Why won’t they let him in?’ ‘How do I know, baby, now come on.’ He replied to her. Now with his conscience at work, later in the day, His daughter asked again, ‘How come they wouldn’t let Jesus in, dad?’ Irritated, he said, ‘I told you I don’t know!’
b. Later that night, on her way to bed she asked yet again, ‘Why wouldn’t they let Jesus in?’ With a soft answer in a subdued voice, he replied, ‘I guess because they’re bad, kitten. And foolish.’ After a goodnight kiss and on her way to the bedroom, she said, ‘Well, we’d let him in, wouldn’t we, daddy!’ That night the father lay wrestling with the question on his mind, ‘Why don’t I let him in?’ and then he did what he needed to do and let Jesus into his life.
c. I wonder at times if Christians really listen to what they read. If they have already been immersed into Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins but slowly drifted away, why don’t they come home again? You see folks, this passage of Scripture was written with Christian people, like us, in mind. Why don’t they let Jesus back in?
d. There are some who teach what they call the ‘sinners prayer’ and the Scripture they use to support this idea is this very verse.
e. There is a lot of variation when it comes to the ‘sinner’s prayer’, but most say something like this, ‘Jesus, I now realize I have sinned against you. Please forgive me of my sin. Please come into my life and change my heart. I want you to be my Savior. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.’
f. As I already noted, who is Jesus speaking to in Revelation 3:20? He’s not speaking to non-Christians. He’s speaking to people who have already become Christians. If you’re not a Christian this morning, let me ask you, why don’t you let Jesus into your life? There’s not one teaching anywhere in the Bible about saying a prayer to become a Christian. If you’re not a Christian, then simply read all of Acts 2 and see what they believed and did in order to have their sins forgiven and then go and do the same.
VIII. Jesus is standing knocking at the door, asking to come in so you can get back into His church. And He says, ‘If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me’. Do you see how our relationship with Jesus is so personal? Fellowship together, eating with one another. Jesus will knock and He will wait, but He will not break down the door. It must be opened by us and that’s because Jesus won’t enter anywhere He is not invited.
a. Notice that although Jesus is speaking to the whole church, He actually addresses them individually, He doesn’t say, ‘if everyone’… but ‘if anyone.’ Now why is that important? Well, simply because as a church, we can drift away, but it only takes one Christian to invite Jesus back in to their lives again to get the church moving in the right direction.
b. To the person who repents and opens the door to Jesus, Jesus goes on to say in Revelation 3:21- “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
IX. God is a graceful God. God is a patient God. He’s about to spit them out of His mouth because of their lukewarm attitude and their self-sufficiency… but! But He says, if they repent and change their attitude towards their Lord Jesus then He will bless them richly.
a. This church seemed to be absolutely overrun and overcome with luke-warmness and self-confidence. Yet it was possible by the rebukes and warnings of Christ that they might be inspired with fresh zeal and vigor, and might come off conquerors in their spiritual warfare.
b. Think about it, God is a God who wants to forgive. If they repent, then all their former faults will be forgiven, and they will have a great reward. And what is that reward? ‘They shall sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and have sat down with my Father on his throne’.
c. We know that Christ Himself had met with His own temptations and conflicts. We know that He overcame them all, and was more than a conqueror. We also know that Christ’s reward was to be seated in glory with the Father on His throne. Jesus is saying that those who are conformed to Christ in His trials and victories shall be conformed to Him in His glory. AND He says they shall sit down with him on His throne, on His throne of judgment, on His throne of glory for all eternity.
d. Isn’t that worth changing our attitude for? Isn’t it comforting to know that God really does want to reward us for our faithfulness?
X. Then again we read these words in Revelation 3:22- “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Are we listening church? Have we listened to what the Holy Spirit has been saying to us through these letters?
a. All the letters have closed with a demand for our attention.
b. I say again; Please don’t think that all the instructions, rebukes and corrections we’ve read about in these letters were written just for each of these individual churches. They are written for all the churches of Christ, in all ages and in all parts of the world.
c. I imagine we’ve recognized ourselves in some of those letters and if we have, we have no excuse on how to deal with it. If it is positive, then we continue to give thanks to God while serving Him faithfully but if it is negative then we need to repent and turn back to God’s ways.

Conclusion: In part we read in 1 Peter 4:17- “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household…” May we strive to always do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and may we also be ready and willing to repent as individuals or as a congregation. The rewards for faithfulness are just too great to lose out on.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

#598 ………………………………Lord I’m Coming Home

Reference Sermon
Mike Glover
November 7, 2014