The church in Laodicea
Good morning brethren, I like to write on the biblical verse of Revelation 3:14-22. “The church in Laodicea”. Perhaps a brief history of Laodicea, it was a wealthy, industrious city in the province of Phrygia. Unfortunately, unlike the other churches, the Laodicean church has nothing to commend it. Jesus began the message with condemnation: Revelation 3: 15-17 says “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 realise that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked”. Jesus touches on their lukewarm nature (apathetic nature) hence He would “spit them out,” With their apathy came a spiritual blindness; they claimed to be rich, blessed, and self-sufficient, but spiritually, the Laodiceans were in a wretched condition. It was a church filled with self-deceived hypocrites. From this finding on the Laodicea church we can observe three noticeable mark of a dead church. The first mark is their apathetic attitude (Revelation 3:14-16).
The Laodicea church weren’t fervent about the things of God, nothing fires them up and they have no passion for anything. Jesus threatens to spit them out of His mouth because they are lukewarm (this stands for judgment). Those who are spit out of Jesus’s mouth don’t belong to Him and has no hope of eternal life. The second mark of a dead church is self-confidence (Revelation 3:17-18).The Laodiceans were lukewarm, but they were blessed with riches, hence they were convinced they were spiritually rich and had arrived. They were self-deceived, and did not know that in the eye of Jesus they were wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Their material wealth had no eternal benefit, so Jesus commands them to come to Him for true, spiritual riches. The third mark of a dead church is seen in their refusal to listen (Revelation 3:19-20). Jesus calls upon the believers to renew their zeal and to repent, but a dead church does not listen, they refuse to change, they do not listen to reproof. Please note that “the Lord disciplines those He loves” (Hebrews 12:6).
The desired response to God’s reproof should be change and true repentance. In conclusion, Jesus pleads with the Laodicean in verse 22 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches.” With humility and repentance comes joy and fruitfulness and those who admit they are naked will be clothed, the poor who will become rich, the blind will see. Service is for 10.30am and workers meeting is for 10am.
God’s blessings - Mike