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Revelation 3:14-22
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so 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 eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered 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.’”
(ESV)
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Go ahead and turn with me in your bibles or grab the 1 in the pew rack right ahead of you to Revelation 3 verses 14 to 22. We're wrapping up this afternoon our sermon series looking through the 7 letters of Jesus to the churches of Asia Minor in the book of Revelation. Thankfully for all of us, our pastor for teaching a discipleship, Jeff Heine will be back from sabbatical next week to continue in our series of Revelation, and we'll be eager to hear from him. But this afternoon, we look at an interesting church. A church in Laodicea, that was located in a city that was the banking capital of its region.
Collin Hansen:A city that was famed for its medical school, a city that had recently dealt with a disastrous, earthquake, natural disaster, and also, a city that dealt with a controversial water supply. We've been wondering throughout this series, what it would be like to have a letter written to the church of Birmingham. Today, we see some interesting parallels, but I'm not convinced that after, maybe you'll share the same opinion as we go through this letter from Jesus, whether we really want to hear or have the ears to hear what Jesus says to his church here, because Laodicea was the only church in Asia Minor about whom Jesus had absolutely nothing remotely positive to say. And that'll become abundantly clear as we look in detail about Jesus' message there. It is a difficult one.
Collin Hansen:It is a convicting one, but I believe ultimately, it is a message from God. It's a message that if we have ears to hear, can bring transformation to us personally, to our congregation, and ultimately to our city by the power of the holy spirit. So, before we get in, let's just consider the basic message that Jesus has then for the church of Laodicea, that he then also has for us today. That message is that God loves the lukewarm, He loves the lukewarm, and he loves the lukewarm by reproving them and by disciplining him disciplining them, so that they can be zealous and repent and hear the voice of Jesus. Again, Jesus' message for us today is that God loves the lukewarm.
Collin Hansen:He loves them by reproving and disciplining them, so that they can be zealous and repent, so they can hear, then, Jesus. So let's look then at Revelation 3 14 to 22. Listen carefully because this is God's word. And to the angel of the church in Laodicea, write the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. I know your works.
Collin Hansen:You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, Now realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked, I counsel you to buy for me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich. And white garments, so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen.
Collin Hansen:And salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline. So be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and eat with him and eat with me.
Collin Hansen:The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear to hear he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. This is the word of the lord. Thanks be to God. Let's pray.
Collin Hansen:God, give us ears to hear. Give us eyes to see the truth of your word. And fasten our faith, our feet with faith to walk from here in newness of life, with zealousness, in repentance. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Collin Hansen:So let's start by seeing how God loves the lukewarm, and he loves them by reproving them and by disciplining them. Every one of these letters that we've looked at here, Jesus introduces himself in a slightly different manner, in a way that is indicative of the particular message that he has for that church. You see, Jesus then opened up here by introducing himself as the Amen in verse 14. This is the this means that Jesus is the final word. Jesus is the final authority in all things.
Collin Hansen:He says it and it is true. He says it and it happens. He is the alpha and he is the omega, the beginning and the end. He also then describes himself here as the faithful and true witness. If that strikes you at all as familiar, especially in the context of this book, that's not surprising.
Collin Hansen:Specifically, Jesus will adopt this title as a proper name when it comes later in Revelation 19 verse 11. That's when Jesus is depicted as a rider returning to this world on a white horse. The rider's name is Faithful and True. When he returns, he returns to judge the world. In fact, it says that he returns to make war on this world against all who stand in opposition, all enemies to him.
Collin Hansen:He wields that judgment through a sword that comes out of his mouth. That's what it means for him to be the faithful and true. So we've established here that he is the ultimate authority, he is the ultimate judge. We see furthermore, continuing on, still in verse 14, that he reveals himself to be the beginning of God's creation. This can be an easily misunderstood and misinterpreted passage.
Collin Hansen:In fact, the most dangerous heresy of the first 300 years of the church, was built in part off a misunderstanding of this particular verse. We've already confessed in the Apostle's Creed that Jesus is begotten. We might go so far as to add, as the Nicene Creed does from a couple centuries later, that Jesus was begotten and not made. Why is that significant? Jesus is not part of the creation.
Collin Hansen:He is over creation. He is the agent of creation. That's what it means here. We know it means this because it couldn't mean he's part of the creation, because that would go against what we read elsewhere about this Jesus as he discloses himself. We know that specifically from a couple different places in particular.
Collin Hansen:One of them would be the book of Colossians chapter 1 verses 15 to 20. We naturally jump to those verses because the letter that Paul wrote to the church in Colossae was meant, as you can read right there in the letter, to be passed along to the church in Laodicea. They were sister churches. Paul's message for them, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was for both of these places. In Colossians 1 15 to 20, Jesus is revealed to be the one in whom and through whom and for whom all things were created.
Collin Hansen:The one who continues to hold the entire universe by the word of his power. So that's how he reveals himself as the beginning of all creation, in whom, through whom, for whom all things were created. We also know that from John's own gospel himself. This is the revelation given to the apostle John. We know from his prologue, John 1 chapter 3, that Jesus is likewise likewise revealed as the agent through whom creation was accomplished and continues to uphold it, as the sovereign Lord of all creation.
Collin Hansen:So it can't mean that he is then made, he has begotten, he is upholding all things. So Jesus introduces himself in these three ways. He is the authority. He is also then the creator. He is also then the Judge of this creation.
Collin Hansen:It's quite a spectacular introduction here. So what is the message then he has for Laodicea, on the basis of that authority? What does he have to say to them? We read it there in 15. This reference to, I know your works.
Collin Hansen:You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot, Instead, they are lukewarm. Okay. So what's he saying here? We've seen Jesus introduce himself in all these ways, but he's going to transition here to speak to them in ways that they would know intimately.
Collin Hansen:He says, I may be all of these things, the amen, the faith flint through the beginning of all creation, but I am also personally loving but I am also personally loving you. I know you in intimate ways. They would have understood exactly what he meant by this, because there was there's a lot of different details about Laodicea that we know, historically, that illuminate this passage. One of them concerns that water supply I alluded to earlier. Laodicea was a wealthy and prominent city, but it had one significant problem.
Collin Hansen:There was no water supply in Laodicea. That's would be a problem for us today. It would have been a problem for them back then. So what did they do? They relied on that feat of Roman engineering that you've probably long since stopped thinking about from your world civilization classes.
Collin Hansen:That would be the famous Roman aqueduct. They brought in water from 2 different locations. One of them was from Herapolis. Herapolis is about 6 miles to the north of Laodicea. Herapolis was famous for its mineral springs that brought healing.
Collin Hansen:You might be familiar, we still have these mineral springs. Imagine them as God's hot tubs for us. Okay? You sit in them, you feel a lot better. They were helpful back then as well.
Collin Hansen:It's a problem though. Take that hot tub mineral water, expose it to the elements 6 miles on an aqueduct. What do you have? It's lukewarm. Well, nobody likes drinking lukewarm water, but furthermore, don't drink mineral water.
Collin Hansen:What does it do? It makes you wanna throw up. You vomit. That's exactly what Jesus is talking about here. He says, it'd be great if you were warm and healing, but you're not.
Collin Hansen:You make me wanna throw up like this mineral water. What does he mean then by cold? I think this is easy to misunderstand without this further context. They also brought in water from where? Colossae, 3 miles to the southeast, came through the same route, came through aqueducts, or in the same way, at least.
Collin Hansen:Same problem though. Cool water exposed to the elements over 3 miles. What happens to it? It becomes lukewarm. It's no longer cool and refreshing.
Collin Hansen:So Jesus is telling them, it'd be great if you were warm and you were healing. It'd be great if you were cool and refreshing. You're neither. You're lukewarm. You make me want to throw up.
Collin Hansen:So a very personal, intimate indictment that Jesus offers them, that they would have stood in context. So why though? What have they done that's so horrible? In fact, we don't really even know exactly here. All we know is that they don't seem to be they don't seem to be zealous.
Collin Hansen:They don't there's nothing to commend them. We don't even know what they've done wrong, but they seem to be, at the very least, self sufficient. That's what Jesus is indicting them for. Look with me then at verse 17. For you say, I am rich.
Collin Hansen:I have prospered, and I need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Okay. More context here to understand what's happening. I alluded to earlier, the banking center, Laodicea, a regional trading hub, known for its banking that made them quite prosperous.
Collin Hansen:It also apparently led to a certain measure of self sufficiency, a belief that they have everything that they could possibly need in this world. We'll see another explicit allusion to that from Jesus when he talks about gold, coming up in the next verse. But what else is happening here? Their self sufficiency was embodied in in a particularly powerful way. I mentioned that earthquake.
Collin Hansen:That earthquake wiped out, wiped out Laodicea in 60 A. D. Well, then as now, cities would look for help from their neighbors. Their neighbors would volunteer to help them rebuild. Laodicea was different, though.
Collin Hansen:Laodicea said, uh-uh. We got this. They've been wiped out. This was not a city that would accept help from anyone. It was an affront to their pride.
Collin Hansen:They had everything they need. And Jesus says, you have it all wrong. You are, in fact, the most needy of any of these places that I'm writing these letters to. So what does Jesus tell them that they should do? He tells them in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself.
Collin Hansen:And the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. So every single one of these details reveals Jesus's personal, careful, intimate knowledge of these people. It's just amazing when you sit down and you actually look at all of these details. I counsel you to bind from me gold refined by fire. Already mentioned their wealth as a regional banking capital.
Collin Hansen:Usually in scripture, you'll see references to this fire with metals, because fire are those hardships and difficulties and persecutions in life that God allows for our good, because it burns off all the excess dependence and sin and all those other things, the hindrances in our lives and help us to trust in him, to be able to depend on him alone for help and sustenance in all these things. Well, that's what's happening here, but Laodicea specifically had a problem. We see Jesus commend any number of these other churches for their bearing up under persecutions. Laodicea, as far as we know, was not persecuted. This is part of why they were self sufficient.
Collin Hansen:The Christians there weren't having a particularly difficult time. That's why they thought everything was okay and why they would have been so stung by this rebuke from Jesus. Laudicea, as Jews, as far as we know, those who had were born ethnically Jewish and continue to practice that religion and not follow Jesus Christ, their savior, well, they had actually assimilated into this Greek culture. Perhaps, it had something to do with all of these other self sufficiencies of this city, the wealth and the power and the influence. Who knows, but they fell under those spells.
Collin Hansen:These were not devout Jews. They didn't appear to have that big of a problem with the Christians there compared to any number of these other cities. So the Christians there were complacent. No persecution. No problem.
Collin Hansen:Right? Well, actually, Jesus says, perhaps that's why you think you don't need me, why you think everything's going so well. Furthermore, he tells them to clothe themselves with these white garments, and the shame of their nakedness may not be seen. We see throughout Revelation, indeed, in all of scripture, how white is a symbol of purity, holiness, of of following Christ, of purity. That's especially true in the book of Revelation, and especially tied to the persecuted church, those people who have given their lives serving Christ and testifying to his death and resurrection for sinners.
Collin Hansen:That's a constant theme throughout here. But, furthermore, for Laodicea, they were so proud because they were famous for having bred this particular kind of black wool that was a kind of luxury back then. He's saying, again, even your very clothing that you're so proud of is worthless compared to what I offer you in these pure white garments. If you would only set aside your pride and follow me, and wear the robes I give you, my righteousness, that comes as a gift to all who believe. And finally, we have another example here.
Collin Hansen:He tells them, you think you can see, but instead, you are blind. You need this salve to appoint to anoint on your eyes. Laodicea was famous as a medical school, because they invented a kind of powder that could be applied to the eyes to bring healing and improved eyesight. He says, you think you have it all figured out. You don't have a clue.
Collin Hansen:You need my salve to be able to see the truth of your own spiritual situation. So you can see, no detail here is extraneous. Every one of them is very specific, and has an intent from God for his church, from the very Lord of the universe, the amen, the beginning of creation, the faithful and true. I wonder, as we think about a stinging word of rebuke like this, if we can understand its intent as loving from Jesus. Because it seems like we expect love today to come without any strings attached, in the sense that we use it to be able to affirm whatever we want and however we're feeling in the moment.
Collin Hansen:And anybody who challenges us in that becomes a hindrance to our self fulfillment and our happiness, and so we shut them off. But what this produces is merely a whole lot of flattery, of people who tell you what you want to hear because they want to keep in your good graces, but Jesus says, I'm not that kind of person. I'm the one who loves you even when you're unlovely. I'm the one who loves you enough to tell you the truth about yourself even when you're blind to see it. He is that ultimate friend.
Collin Hansen:He is that brother who goes before us, and looks back and tells us the way to get home safely. This is who Jesus reveals himself to be here, even in reproof and discipline for these people. A hard message, but a personal message, an intimate message, and ultimately, a loving message of rebuke for them. So we've been thinking about and maybe considering having second thoughts about what would it be like for Jesus to speak then a word like this to the church in Birmingham today. Daunting to think about.
Collin Hansen:Well, it's interesting as we imagine what it would be like for Jesus to send a letter like this, that in fact, the most famous letter in American history ever written to a church, or at least a city and a group of churches, was a letter that was written to Birmingham, that was written to the city of Birmingham and to its pastors. In fact, a letter that used this passage as its theme, that used this very passage as its as its theme, and indicted the church in Birmingham for being lukewarm, and therefore ineffective in its discipleship. I'm referring then to doctor Martin Luther King Junior's letter from Birmingham Jail from April of 8, 1963, 57 years ago. It was written to 8 clergy members in Birmingham. 6 of them Protestant, one of them Roman Catholic, one of them Jewish.
Collin Hansen:Message, which is powerful, and encourage you to read it without delay, if you haven't already or reread it even if you have. But the message is very clear. The message is justice delayed is justice denied. Justice delayed is justice denied. King goes on to explain that, you know, I have a problem with the Ku Klux Klan, but at least I know what I'm getting with the Ku Klux Klan.
Collin Hansen:They're trying to kill me. I get that. What I don't get are people who say that they agree with me, but they don't do anything to help me. What I can't understand. People who say, I see the same injustices that you see, but don't do anything about it.
Collin Hansen:Those people, King says, are the true enemies of justice. Those, the people who are the lukewarm, are the problem. The ones who say, oh, of course, I agree with you, but again, do not risk anything to actually follow through on it. He's trying to say then, truth changes everything. There is no way to follow Jesus.
Collin Hansen:There is no way to be a disciple of Christian in some kind of half hearted way. This is truth that changes everything. This is not a social club. This is a kingdom that turns the world upside down. It accords well, I think, with something that CS Lewis said.
Collin Hansen:It amplifies this message. He said, Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important. The one thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important, and I might apply that further to say, the one thing Jesus cannot be is second on anybody's priority list. I think, especially for us in the South, we find a place for Jesus somewhere on that priority list, but he's not always, and sometimes ever, at the top of that list.
Collin Hansen:But I'm telling you, if he's the amen, if he's the beginning of all creation, if he's the faithful and true, he doesn't take second place to anyone or anything. It simply doesn't work. It's impossible. And furthermore, any kind of complacency in religion, any kind of half hearted following of Jesus that said, all of this is true, but it doesn't really make that much of a difference in my life, is not compelling. It's just not that interesting.
Collin Hansen:It doesn't make any difference. It's not something that people would really sign up to join, at least not for any of the right reasons. And that's the problem with Laodicea. They're not commended because they're not compelling. There's nothing all that interesting about them.
Collin Hansen:They're so self satisfied. They have everything they want. They've got all the Christianity, but none of the Jesus. They don't need him. I want us to then hear from doctor King himself, from 50 from these 54 years ago, with a prophecy about what happens when the church in Birmingham, indeed, the church anywhere at any time, becomes self satisfied and decides to pursue this kind of lukewarm religion.
Collin Hansen:Go ahead.
Speaker 2:Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. There was a time when the church was very powerful and the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believe. In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion. It was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being disturbers of the peace and outside agitators.
Speaker 2:But the Christians pressed on in the conviction that they were the colony of heaven called by God to obey God rather than man, small in number. They were big in commitment. They were too god intoxicated to be astronomically intimidated. Things are different now. So often the contemporary churches are weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound.
Speaker 2:But the judgment of God is upon the Church as never before. If today's Church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early Church, it will lose its authentic ring and forfeit the loyalty of 1,000,000 and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century.
Collin Hansen:And I might add, I think the 21st century, as we consider history and we wonder how this turned out, was King wrong? Was he wrong then? Is he wrong now? The question for us then, as we consider, are we a thermometer that merely takes the temperature of the society, or a thermostat who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, changes the temperature of society? We have to consider then, are we, Redeemer Community Church, are we a place that brings the warm, healing waters to our city?
Collin Hansen:Are we a church that brings the cool, refreshing waters to our city? Are we merely trying to baptize the status quo of this city with lukewarm water? That's our question from King. Ultimately, I believe, it's our question here from Jesus himself. Let's look then at what this means, again, from Jesus here to say that we ought to be zealous and repent so that we can hear him.
Collin Hansen:Look with me at verse 20. This is the second most famous I mean, basically, I'll put it this way, there's 2 really famous references here. We've been dwelling on the lukewarm one. We're now looking at the behold, I knock at the door. I stand at the door and knock.
Collin Hansen:If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. You may be familiar with this passage. It's seeped its way into popular culture in a number of different ways, but I think some of that understanding has been rather confused. It makes Jesus sound like an almost passive figure, who is unable to act without our without us giving him permission. I don't think that really accords with how Jesus has revealed himself here as the Amen, as the faithful and true, the beginning of all creation.
Collin Hansen:And yet, we need to understand what he means then in this passage. I think one reason it's confusing is because, as we heard Matt preach about last week, from chapter 3 verse 8 in particular, we've seen that Jesus says, behold, I leave a door open that no one else can close. So you gotta figure out, is the door open or is it closed here? That's a little bit confusing. If you widen out your scope a little bit more, canonically speaking, you get to John 10 where you say Jesus where Jesus says, I am the door.
Collin Hansen:And he says, my sheep are those who hear my voice and enter in, who enter in through that door. Okay? So is the door open, or is it or closed, and Jesus is knocking, or Jesus the door himself? And it gets even more confusing, because in that same passage in John 10, Jesus says that he is the shepherd who calls and his sheep hear his voice. But then, we see in Revelation 5 and throughout here, that Jesus is the lamb who was slain for the sins of the world.
Collin Hansen:So we see a lot of different imagery going on here, and it's dangerous to isolate any one of them and build an entire theology around them. We have to carefully consider all of them, in light of the same spirit who's inspired all of them, the same Jesus who embodies them. Well, I would also then point out that Jesus does not appear to be hindered by a door specifically when we go back to his resurrection appearances. He passes through doors to to see to reveal himself to his disciples. So I think that can't be exactly what he's getting at here either, that he's passive and requires us to essentially hand him that kind of agency to be able to work.
Collin Hansen:But I think in light of all that, we can understand basically what Jesus is getting at here. The question is, Jesus is knocking. He's knocking right now in this place. Can you hear him? Jesus is knocking.
Collin Hansen:Can you hear him? Or inside are things so loud and so distracting, are we like the church of Laodicea, that was so self important that they couldn't hear the voice of Jesus calling to them, knocking, telling them, repent and follow me with zeal. I think that's how we can understand what's happening here. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Jesus is knocking.
Collin Hansen:There's another promise here that's easy to overlook in light of that door passage. It's an amazing one. I'm not sure we truly understand how significant it is. It comes right there in verse 20. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, here it is, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.
Collin Hansen:This is not some kind of small passing little snack. This is nothing short of what Jesus promises in Revelation 196, the marriage supper of the lamb, where all those and only those who are clothed in the white garments of Christ's righteousness, who have repented of their sins, professed their faith, and followed him with zeal, will be able to dine with him forever, in a never ending feast. That's the invitation here. When we open that door and we hear Jesus knocking, he brings that party. He brings that tremendous marriage supper of the lamb that will never end for all who believe, all those who've been clothed in this white linen.
Collin Hansen:So we have then, here, Jesus giving us then another message, another meal, to be able to anticipate that meal. An invitation even now to come to dwell with him, to invite him in, and ultimately, to dine with him in a way that will be a foretaste of forever, of our inheritance as God's people. It was on the very night that Jesus was betrayed, that he took bread and he gave thanks. And he said, this is my body, which is broken for you. Take, eat.
Collin Hansen:Do this in remembrance of me. Jesus also then, that same night, he took the cup, and he explained that this is my new covenant enacted in blood. Likewise, as as often as you gather, take and drink, and do this in remembrance of me. He then also explained that we do this to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes again. There's a final promise here in our passage, a final promise that I don't want us to miss.
Collin Hansen:It comes in verse 21. Says, the one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my father on his throne. You can read all about that throne in Revelation 4. I don't think words can you can feel them straining to try to depict what this throne of judgment, what this throne ultimately of vindication for God's people will be like. But that's the illusion here, that not only will Jesus rule and reign, but he will rule and reign with us, with all of us who believe and follow him.
Collin Hansen:There's also a reference to this reign, this 1000 year reign in Revelation 20. I'd encourage you to check that out as well. A spectacular promise for all of us who believe, who have taken the bread, who have drunk the wine, to anticipate that marriage supper of the lamb where we will dine with him and rule with him forever. Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, you have had a hard word for us here today, but, Lord, you have a greater promise for us, and we thank you for that promise.
Collin Hansen:God, as you give us eyes to see and ears to hear, Lord, fill our bodies now with bread and wine, and ultimately with faith. Let us go from here, God, in the power of the spirit to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.