Revelation 3:14-22

The Church That Had Arrived

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on March 25, 2018 at Beacon Church

The title of this morning’s message is supposed to offend you. When you talk to someone who thinks they’ve arrived, you’re supposed to think, “who do you think you are?” And that’s the sense we get of the church in Laodicea. It was at one time a very wealthy, very important city: a melting pot of ethnic diversity, a regional centre for banking, trade, textiles, and home to a famous medical school.[i] The church there was possibly planted by the Apostle Paul himself, and his letter to the church in nearby Collosae even mentions another letter he wrote to the church in Laodicea—around 30 years before Revelation was written (Col 4:12-17). But between Paul’s ministry and John’s writing of this letter, the church had gone downhill. It’s pretty likely that Laodicea was affected by the same false teaching that Paul tried to correct in Colossians. But Jesus doesn’t mention any specific heresy in this letter. And He has nothing good to say about this church. They seem to have had this attitude I mentioned, like they’d arrive. So Jesus begins not by asking them “who do you think you are?” but by telling them who He is.

“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,’ ” (Rev. 3:14 ESV). The word “amen” in the Hebrew Old Testament has the idea of standing firm, and therefore of being true.[ii] God is described in this way, for example in Isaiah 65:16. And so Deut 7:9 even calls God “faithful” using the root of this same word: “the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,” (Deut. 7:9 ESV). Then in the NT, just in the Gospel written by John, Jesus used this word to say, “truly, truly”, 25 times to make the point that what He was about to say was absolutely true, absolutely trustworthy, absolutely sure so that His hearers would believe Him absolutely. So if Jesus is not just amen, but The Amen of God personified, then what He says next is ominous for the Laodiceans: He is “the faithful and true witness”. And the sense here is not just to repeat what He already said by using the words “the Amen”, but to indicate that what He was about to say was His own legal witness, like in a court of Law, against the church in Laodicea.[iii] Finally, as Jesus lays out His credentials before the divine Court to which Laodicea had been subpoenaed, He adds one final claim: “the beginning of God’s creation”.

The word “beginning” has been the subject of a lot of debate. It can mean “the first in a list”,[iv] but to read it that way here is pretty superficial when the word itself has a wide scope of meaning. The opening pages of Revelation show that Jesus is using it in a much wider sense. In Revelation 1:17, Jesus said, “I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died and behold I am alive forever more, and I have the keys of death and hades.” So yes He was the first, but He’s also the one who gives people life—and who will take away death. Then Revelation 1:8 says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”— His own words in Rev 1:8 prove that when He says “A-Z” He is claiming to be God in His very nature “the Lord God” and “The Almighty”. And that’s what His next words in 1:8 claim: who is and who was and who is to come—He is timeless and eternal. So back to our word in 3:14, the word for “beginning” sometimes means first, and sometimes the cause; sometimes the original and other times the originator, or founder.[v] Samples from 3 lexicons define this word as, "the point of derivation or originating moment",[vi] the "origin",[vii] and "that by which anything begins to be, the origin, active cause".[viii] So when Jesus describes Himself to John this way, we should bear in mind how John described Jesus in John 1:3, ”All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (Jn. 1:3 ESV) Who does Jesus think He is? He is the Creator of the Universe. He made the rules; He is the Law-giver, and all creatures are His to judge.

The Laodiceans make Jesus sick

This is such a harsh, shocking thing to say that I hesitated to say it. But it captures the sense of His really strong words in the next two verses. “'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!” (Rev. 3:15 ESV). The word “hot” here means “boiling hot”.[ix] He says this because He knows all the things this church has done—their works, and it is His verdict that there is no intense love for God in this church, no passionate commitment to Truth, no zeal in worship, no enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel. If there were those things, then it would boil up in the form of good works. But they aren’t “hot” and they aren’t “cold” either. And this fact grieves Jesus: “Would that you were either cold or hot!” (Rev. 3:15 ESV). This is a word of strong regret: not that He wishes they would change, but that He is saddened they actually turned out this way.[x] In verse 16 He explains why: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth,” (Rev. 3:16 ESV). And this is where some of that historical background sheds light on what Jesus is saying.

Laodicea’s only source of water was by an underground aqueduct from a hotsprings in the Lycan river about 6 miles away from the city. Everybody likes hotsprings—natural, hot water is good for lots of things. So is naturally cold water. But in Laodicea, by the time the water reached their city it probably smelled bad, from the hotspring minerals, but it was gross and tepid.[xi] I don’t even drink tap water unless I let it run long enough to get cold. It’s gross. And apparently everybody in Laodicea thought so too—which is why Jesus uses their nauseating city water to describe how He feels about them and what He’s about to do: “I will spit you out of my mouth,” (Rev. 3:16 ESV). The word for spit means “to vomit”.[xii] Actually the NIV says, “I am about to spit you out…” because there’s a little word in the Greek of this verse that means He is already “on the point” of vomiting.[xiii] It’s pretty graphic, but it’s as if Jesus is saying, “I’m going to be sick!”

So what kinds of churches make Jesus sick to His stomach? Well “boiling” churches don’t—He praises the Philadelphian church’s zeal for sharing the Gospel in their region (3:8); the passionate love for others in Thyatira (2:19); even the commitment to sound doctrine in Ephesus, though their love was cooling (2:2-4). And even dead churches don’t nauseate Jesus when there are still some survivors still keeping the faith, like in Sardis (3:2, 4). But Jesus doesn’t even speak this way about people who’ve never heard the Gospel, who’ve never yet believed in Him at all! What makes Him sick seems to be when churches like Laodicea heard the Gospel 2 or 3 decades before, in their case maybe from the Apostle Paul, but by the time the Gospel travelled down the pipe from the boiling temperatures of the first Laodicean believers to the current generation of church members, second-hand faith didn’t make them boil, it made them boring. They acted out the religious forms of Christianity in a sort of cultural way—but they didn’t really believe it all—not like those radical “born again” types up the highway in Philadelphia! One scholar says we can’t even call them “lukewarm Christians”: “The very expression a lukewarm Christian is a contradiction in terms, for a lukewarm Christian has no claim to be called a Christian at all".[xiv]

In the letter to the Ephesian church, in Rev 2:5, Jesus warned them He was about to remove their lampstand—the essence of their public witness as a true church. As far as I can tell, Laodicea was far past that point. There was no Gospel witness left in that church. They were “lukewarm”, and the Gospel had never been personal for them. It is probable that there were no Christians left in that church. And the reason is simple: The first step in becoming a Christian is to agree with God about your condition. In verse 17, Jesus reveals what the Laodicean church really thought about themselves. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,” (Rev. 3:17 ESV). But remembering that Jesus is the Amen, the Faithful and True witness, their beliefs about themselves were not a harmless self-delusion. Their beliefs in effect called God a liar. But their beliefs about themselves were really typically Laodicean. From everything we can gather from history, the three things this church thinks about itself is typical of the rest of their city: they were a wealthy city, a huge commercial centre with highways from other places running right through the city. It was a banking and financial hub, always willing to compromise for the sake of the next big deal.[xv] So wealthy, so self-sufficient in fact, that when a massive earthquake struck in 60AD, right around when the church would first have been planted in Laodicea, the Roman Emperor offered money to help them rebuild. And the proud, we-can-do-it-ourselves-and-don’t-need-your-help Laodiceans turned Caesar’s offer down.[xvi] It seems the church 30 years later was now refusing Christ’s offer of salvation. They didn’t see why they needed the Gospel.

What can make a cold church hot?

If we can begin to feel the shock of this church who so totally ignored God’s assessment about their condition, their need for repentance, their need for Jesus to have died on the cross for them to be saved, then there are two more things Jesus says here that should seem unnatural. First, in verse 16 the NIV is right to give the translation, “I am about to spit you out…” One commentator points out that this delay, even if it’s really brief, implies a chance for some of the Laodiceans to repent.[xvii] Second, in verse 18, Jesus comes right out and invites whoever might be listening in Laodicea to repent:

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. (Rev. 3:18 ESV).

Why would Jesus give these people this chance? And the answer is supernatural grace. Like every one of us, the Laodiceans were unworthy sinners, people who have deeply offended their Creator God. And like every one of us, Jesus offered them generous love and mercy. But if they wanted His mercy, they were going to have to start by agreeing with His assessment of their true condition. Before that, they were unaware that they were actually “wretched, pitable, poor, blind and naked”. But Jesus could see it.

So Jesus offered them grace specific to their condition. And again, His words are intended to cut straight to the heart of their deep need, like a scalpel. You see, Laodicea was a materialistic, profitable city. And the church also seems to have come to the point where they confused material well-being with spiritual health. But their need for Jesus was just as great whether they were rich or poor in material stuff. In verse 14 He reminded them that He created all the material stuff this world has to offer![xviii] But now, though the tone is urgent, there is a gentleness to the words of the Saviour in verse 18. Laodicea was famous for having lots of money: Jesus said they are dirt poor. But He counsels them to buy purified gold. How could they do that if they are poor? Jesus said to “buy from me”—they had to come to Him and ask to buy what they could not possibly afford. And it would cost them: it would cost them their self-sufficiency, their self-confidence, their independence. As Matthew Henry put it, they had to, "...part with sin and self-sufficiency, and come to Christ with a sense of your poverty and emptiness, that you may be filled with his hidden treasure."[xix] Then, though Laodicea was world-famous in the ancient world for its glossy, black wool cloth, Jesus says their black wool can never cover their guilty shame.[xx] They need Him to give them the white clothing of His righteousness, so that they could walk in His victory. Lastly, though Laodicea was famous for its medical school, and for cakes of powder exported all over Rome which were used to make ointment for treating various eye conditions, Jesus says their blindness is too deep for their doctors or their medicine. They need Jesus to give them spiritual sight. This counsel, this advice He gives, in short, is “the gospel, …the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom. 1:16 ESV)

What is keeping us from really loving Jesus?

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent,” (Rev. 3:19 ESV). In verse 19, what attribute of Christ’s character most stands out? Is it His gentle love, as if to children? Or is it His holiness announcing they must repent? We need Christ to make us see this profound spiritual truth about God: He is loving and He is holy.[xxi] One of the first steps on the journey to becoming lukewarm is when a church begins to forget that Christ is loving in His mercy, and holy in His judgement. Another sign of lukewarmness is when one’s personal feelings replace a personal relationship. “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,” (Rev. 3:20 ESV). It’s a common myth that in this verse Jesus is standing at the door of the hearts of unbelievers, asking for permission to come in. No. He is the Master of the house, having been shut out of His own church. He stands at the door of His house, and His true servants will open the door and welcome Him home. He calls all churches to pay attention to the glory of who He is once again, no matter how stuffy and proper, and cultured, and Canadian the church has slowly become. He calls us to keep ourselves from becoming lukewarm and tepid, and commands us to boil with zeal for His Gospel, with passion for worship, with devotion for true doctrine. Our Master, though, will not allow His church to be aloof and distant from Him. Jesus insists on intimacy with the people He died to save: so that we would enjoy His holy and loving, all-powerful and tender, awesome and intimate Presence in the midst of our eating and drinking; of our visiting; of our preaching and teaching, and of our worship and prayer.

“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,” (Rev. 3:21 ESV). The ones who conquer are the churches who keep their doors and lives open to seek the joy of intimacy with Jesus; who keep on coming to Him with empty, poor hands, admit our poverty without Him, and make Him our greatest Treasure; who no longer live in the shame of sin, trying to cover our nakedness with our own efforts at being good Christians, but who keep on remembering that the righteousness of Jesus is all the covering we need; who never forget that if we forget to rely on the Scriptures our faithful and true witness has given to us through the ministry of His Holy Spirit, we will quickly become blind. So we come to His Word, in humble dependence on Christ, The Amen, to help us see. And we wait for that day when our faith will become sight—when our struggle will vanish in the wake of His victory. We look forward to that day, when Christ Himself will lift us from our humble weakness, and welcome us to share in His honour, in His glory, in His Kingdom. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” (Rev. 3:22 ESV).