Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church

Revelation 3:14-22

Snug Gospel Chapel: October 25th, 2015

Good morning!
Before we begin, lets come before the Lord in prayer.

Father, as we open your Word this morning, I pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to make us a people who can
truly hear, and truly see what your Spirit is saying to the church at Laodicea. Grant us the grace to see in Spirit and in
Truth the reflection of our own condition in this book. Challenge us, chasten us, and drive us to our knees before the
great King of Kings, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Father, my prayer this morning is that you would cause us to be a church that burns for you; a church whose love for
the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the Dead, and the Ruler over the Kings of the Earth cannot and will not be
satisfied until the light of Jesus Christ shines brightly in every aspect of our lives. Lord, grant in us a deep dissatisfaction
that we would be keenly and acutely aware that only you can satisfy; that only in the King of Kings can we find life
and life more abundant.
In His Name, and in His power, we ask this morning that you would move among us, to glorify Your Name and to bring
honour to the Lamb that was slain.

Amen.

After six amazing letters, some crushing in their chastisement, others filled with encouragement and grace from the
Lord Jesus Christ, weve finally reached the end; the last of the seven letters written by the Lord Jesus Christ to the
churches in Asia Minor.
If, as Ive argued throughout this series, these churches represent the entire breadth and length of church history
throughout the ages, then Laodicea stands either upon the wave of a great crescendo of apostasy, or at the very pit
of the deepest valley of failure. There is nothing whatsoever that the Lord has to say to this church that is positive; no
commendation, no encouragement, no caveat of works or faith to cling to. If Laodicea represents, as I would suggest,
the final climax of the history of the church, then the Last Days before the Lords return can be viewed in no other light
than an emphatic, resounding anti-climax of weakness, faithlessness and worldliness. Laodicea, unlike any of the
churches before it, appears to be almost entirely without Christ.

Lets jump straight in.

Turn with me to Revelation chapter 3 and verse 14.

14

And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write,

These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 I know your works,
that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither
cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17
Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothingand 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. 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.

The History of Laodicea

As with each of the cities weve looked at in this series, the history of Laodicea is vitally important in seeking to
understand what it is the Lord is saying to this church. In each of the churches that weve studied, weve seen that the
history of the cities in which each church is located has been reflected within the text itself and, more importantly,
that the Lord Jesus has used these histories in order to communicate His will for the church in a prophetic sense.
In chapter 1, we saw the Lord depicted as having eyes like a flame of fire. I connected this with Hebrews 4:13,
wherein the Holy Spirit wrote that nothing in all creation is hidden from Gods sight, but all things are naked and open
to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
Laodicea is no exception to this; and as with each letter that precedes it, it is the uncompromised ability of the Lord
Jesus Christ to see, both historically and prophetically, the challenges, failings and successes of each church, and His
ability to portray those attributes through the written word through puns, allusions and wordplay, that demonstrates
the divine origin of the text. In fact, were these letters in any other order, the distinctive layering of the prophetic
over the historical would fail to apply. As it is, these seven letters are not merely vaguely representative of the span
of church history, but specifically, insightfully accurate in a manner that repeatedly hammers home the divine

authorship of the text. These are not the insights of the apostle John, nor any other human mind they are the insights
of the Holy Spirit, expressed through the Word of God Himself: Jesus Christ.
With that in mind, were going to look this morning primarily at two aspects of the history of Laodicea, each of which
will inform our understanding of the verses that weve just read. These two aspects are the citys water, and its wealth.
Its water, and its wealth.

Lets look first at Laodiceas water supply.

I think it would be fair to state that it is the water supply to the city of Laodicea that has become synonymous with its
name.
In verse 15, the Lord Jesus states,
I know your works; that you are neither cold not hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are
lukewarm, and neither cold not hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Laodicea was a city that seemed to have everything going for it. It was prosperous, exceedingly wealthy, and culturally
vibrant. There was just one thing lacking, however: a reliable water supply. Laodiceas water was derived entirely
from a series of underground aqueducts that were fed by hot springs in Hieropolis, another major city around 10
kilometers to the north. These aqueducts had been built by Antiochus II shortly after the founding of the city, and
ferried water between Hieropolis, Laodicea, and Colossae, which lay another 15 kilometers to the south of Laodicea.
There are numerous commentaries on this subject, many of which have drawn a comparison between hot water as
being representative of those who are zealous for Christ, while cold water is those who knew God, but did not
glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:21) while the lukewarm are somewhere in the middle: saved, but without zeal. This is the suggestion
contained within the book that youve received today, and present in the vast majority of commentaries but Id like
to suggest to you that this view, while not entirely incorrect in practical terms, is nonetheless missing the point. You
see, there are two problems with this view. The first is that it suggests that the King of Kings would be happier with
the unsaved than the lukewarm. This is problematic, primarily because it is inconsistent with the remainder of the
letter. As we will see further on, the image of lukewarm Laodiceans relates to a church that is composed almost
exclusively of unbelievers that merely pay lip service to Jesus Christ. Such a church would not be lukewarm, but cold
with the mere appearance of warmth. This is essentially what we saw in Sardis, who had a name that they were
alive, but were dead. That is not the case here, however. We must also remember that God is not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9). This means that there is no circumstance in which
a refusal to repent would ever be a good thing, or the better of a series of outcomes even in the face of inconsistent
Christianity. The second problem here is that this view ignores the historical context that so dominates each of these
seven letters. When we have that context in view, the Biblical picture stands out. The Lord is not discussing the

salvation of the Laodiceans here (which he will indeed deal with later), but as he explicitly states, their works and
they have been found wanting. Allow me to explain.
I mentioned a moment ago that the water that sprung from the ground in Hieropolis was hot (around 35 degrees
Celcius) and mineral rich. In antiquity, these hot springs fed a series of warm pools incorporated into the various
temples and medicinal facilities that Hieropolis became famous for.
In Colossae to the south, that same water, having been fed through a network of underground caverns, emerged cool,
pure and filtered, perfect for drinking.
Laodicea, with no readily available water source, built at great expense, with great effort, a series of aqueducts
designed to draw water over 10 kilometers into the heart of the city. This great feat of engineering produced a liquid
caught halfway between the hot, healing waters of Hieropolis and the cool, refreshing chill at Colossae. And so it was
that despite all the effort, despite all the work, despite all the hard endeavor and technical brilliance required to
transport water over such great distances, what arrived at Laodicea was of little use to anyone. You see, it is not a
lack of good works that the Lord is referring to in this church, nor a lack of zeal, but a complete lack of usefulness. The
church at Laodicea had not abandoned works - and in fact, if their water is a symbol of their works, the history reveals
that they were indeed laboring greatly - but that their works were futile, fruitless and without merit before the Lord
Jesus Christ, because they were done neither for His name, nor for His sake.

Lets move on, and look at Laodiceas wealth.

Turn to verse 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-
This verse makes reference to three very specific elements of Laodiceas wealth. He says that the people are poor,
blind and naked, and each of these points correlates to a source of great financial strength in the region.
The first of these stems in part from Laodiceas location. Built on the Roman Road that ran West to the Ephesian Gate
(the gateway to the great coastal cities) and East to the Syrian Gate, Laodicea was perfectly positioned in geographical
terms to serve as a financial and banking center for the most prominent cities of Asia Minor. It is perhaps no
coincidence that Laodicea also served as home to one of the largest Jewish communities outside of Israel itself; a
community that grew so wealthy, so quickly, that in the late first century, the Roman Governor placed an embargo on
the export of the Temple Tax that had flowed from Laodicea to Jerusalem over concerns that the amount of wealth
flowing out of the city had become too great to control.

The second element alluded to here is Laodiceas blindness. There is some sense of irony here, in that the hot,
mineralized waters of Hieroplolis, from which the Laodiceans had worked so hard to obtain water, were indeed used
in the healing of eye complaints. Not to be outdone, however, the people of Laodicea established their own medical
centers, which rapidly became known throughout the ancient world as the foremost authorities in the healing of
ailments of the ear, and of the eye. The production of an eye ointment, known as tephraphyrgia, and the citys great
reputation as a medical center, became such an important calling card for the city that the names and faces of two
doctors, Alexander and Zeuxis, remain immortalized on coins that still exist today.
The third element in this passage is the nakedness of the people before a Holy God. Laodicea was also known
throughout the ancient world for the production of a particularly distinctive black wool. Laodiceas situation in the
fertile Lycus valley provided excellent pasture for flocks, and a process of selective breeding allowed the citys
shepherds to produce a breed of sheep that produced a pitch black wool with a beautiful violet hue. This wool was
used to produce clothing generally but more specifically, an outer garment known as a trimira.
These three industries combined to make Laodicea an exceedingly wealthy city. There is one particular event,
however, that illustrates this point very clearly.
You may remember that in our study on the church of Sardis, we learned of an earthquake in AD17. In that instance,
many of the cities throughout Asia Minor had been devastated by the effects of the quake. The emperor Tiberias
stepped in to fill the gap financially, and aid in the rebuilding efforts in several of the cities weve studied throughout
this series. Sardis, however, rebuilt itself from the ruins using the wealth derived from its own great resources.
Laodicea found itself in a similar position in AD61. A massive earthquake centered almost entirely on the city left the
vast majority of its buildings in utter ruins. Like Sardis, however, Laodicea was by this point so wealthy, and so
prosperous, that the city actively refused the help of the Roman Government, choosing instead to rebuild on its own
terms. The historian Tacitus details these events for us, stating that:
One of the most famous cities of Asia, Laodicea, was in that same year (AD61), overthrown by an earthquake, and
without any relief from us, recovered itself from its own resources.
Laodicea was indeed rich, and had become wealthy. It was truly in need of nothing not even in the face of such a
disastrous earthquake. The Lord leaves us in no doubt, however, as to His conclusions. Verse 17:
Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothingand 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.

I want you to notice the marked distinction here between the churchs perception of itself, and the righteous judgment
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a church that thinks it is doing well. We are rich! We have become wealthy! We
have need of nothing!.
You can see the picture being painted here, cant you. To put it in modern terms, this is a church that has thousands
of members attending every Sunday. The offering plates are full to overflowing, their worship is soulful and moving,
and their CDs sell in the thousands. People flock to their services, celebrities sit in the front row and endorse them
without hesitation. This is a church on the forefront of the world stage, at the crossroads of the world, prosperous,
thriving, strong.
But look at the Lords analysis.
You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
Ouch.
Thats quite a brutal response. You think youre doing well. You think you have the world at your feet that you are
shining lights on a hill, a powerful army for the Lord, a chosen generation!
but youre not.
You are wretched. Miserable. Poor. Blind. Naked.
Why is this church in such a miserable state? How can they possibly be so disconnected from the reality of their
situation? Well, the Lord doesnt leave us wondering; in fact, the very next phrase from His lips clarifies this for us
beyond question.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich.
This is a particular thing to say. Obviously its a reference to Laodiceas wealth, but in spiritual terms, what is the Lord
counselling them to obtain?
1 Peter 1 answers this question for us, using the same image of gold refined by fire.
Turn with me to that passage. 1 Peter 1, beginning at verse 3.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again
to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled
and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the
genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found
to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not seen, you love.
What are the people at Laodicea lacking? Its faith! Weve seen throughout this series that the Lord has permitted
the tares to grow with the wheat, as it were. In every instance, in every letter, weve seen the faithful spoken to
alongside the faithless in each church. Here, for the first time, we see that dynamic shift markedly. There are indeed
those who have faith in Christ in this church, as well see in a moment, but in Laodicea, they are in a distinct minority.
The overwhelming spiritual condition of the church at Laodicea is marked by a wholehearted lack of faith in Jesus
Christ. This is the unsaved church.
Now, in case you doubt that, the Lord continues. Back to Revelation, chapter 3 and verse 18.
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
Weve covered the gold, refined in the fire, but what about the garments? Well, weve seen white robes in this book
before, havent we. Allow me to remind you.
Turn with me to Revelation chapter 4 verse 4.
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white
robes.
and now Revelation 7, starting at verse 9:
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples,
and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their
hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb! 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.

13

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come

from?
14

And I said to him, Sir, you know.

So he said to me, These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb.

Now lets draw this all together. Turn back to Revelation 3 and verse 5.
5

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will

confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

Weve seen repeatedly throughout this series that the overcomers are those who place their faith and trust in Jesus
Christ. If then, those who are clothed in white robes are in Christ, and the Laodiceans are declared naked and wretched
in the eyes of the King, what does that suggest?
These white garments are the mark of salvation for the believer. They are a gift to the overcomer; the symbol of the
precious blood of Jesus Christ, the sign of the redeemed and the covering of the saints.
And yet here, within the very walls of this church, the Laodiceans are naked. Wretched. Miserable.
Why?
Because they dont have Christ.
Theyre lost. Lost!
but in case even that isnt enough for you, the Lord makes His point abundantly clear. Look at verse 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.
Weve no doubt all heard this verse before and usually in the context of evangelism. In fact, a church here in Hobart
has a beautiful stained glass window of this very image, with the text below. Thats fine, of course theres nothing
particularly wrong with that application, but its actually not what is occurring here. What should strike us in these
verses isnt the fact that the Lord knocks on the door seeking fellowship after all, we saw Him in the letter to the
church at Ephesus walking among the lampstands, and promising the restoration of fellowship with echoes of Eden
but what should give us pause is the fact that the Lord is seen here knocking on the door of a church.
Let me remind you of Matthew chapter 18 and verse 20; where the Lord says:
Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.
And so if, as we see here in Laodicea, Jesus Christ is not in the midst of the church what conclusion must we draw?

The imagery is consistent. Whether it be a lack of gold, refined by fire, suggesting a lack of faith in the risen King, or
white robes, representing salvation for those who are in Christ, who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb or
the Alpha and Omega Himself, standing outside the door and knocking, there is a single point being made here in
multiple ways. This is a church that is at least in very large part without Jesus Christ.
Without salvation, without sight, without wealth, without Christ.
And this, it must be said, is why the Lords reaction is so violent in verse 16. Because you are neither hot, nor cold, I
will vomit you out of my mouth.
There can be no question here that this is a damning indictment on the church at Laodicea. This is a church so devoid
of the life of Christ that it cannot be tolerated in the body of Christ.

Laodicea: the Church of the Last Days

So, weve covered the history of this church. Weve covered the unadulterated truth as presented by the One who
sees all things as they are, the True and Faithful Witness. but how does this all apply to us, and how does it apply to
our own day and age?
In some respects, Id rather not even address this. and its not because Im unwilling to speak about the falsehood
and heresy of the modern church, but because many of these teachings dont even deserve to see the light of day.
They are, however, an accurate reflection of the age in which we live, and the state of the modern church, and for that
reason, if no other, they do need to be addressed. Todays church finds itself in the same position as Laocidea. Poor,
blind and naked.

The Poverty of the Church

The first point that we must address is the poverty of the modern church. We could talk at length here about the
literal wealth of the church: the Catholic Churchs hidden hoard of gold, antiques and valuables pillaged through the
centuries, the televangelists buying multi-million dollar aircraft, or the TV healers in Italian suits and Rolex watches;
but I suspect the error that is even more dangerous, and perhaps even more pervasive in these last days is the sense
in which the church truly believes that it has everything, and is in need of nothing both literally and spiritually.
Now, Im not going to have time to address any of these issues at length, but I will provide a few choice quotes that
will hopefully highlight for you the position that the church finds herself in today.

So, to wealth. Well all be familiar no doubt with this doctrine. The church today cries out I am rich, and have become
wealthy! I have need of nothing!. ...and Im going to apologise to you in advance here, Im going to be quoting Joel
Osteen a lot and not because I enjoy picking on the man, but because he is at the forefront of many of these heretical
teachings in the church today, and thus quite useful for pressing the point. He says, and I quote:
If you want success, if you want wisdom, if you want to be prosperous and healthy, youre going to have to do more
than meditate and believe; you must boldly declare words of faith and victory over yourself and your family.
You see, according to Osteen, and again, I quote, God wants to increase you financially, by giving you promotions,
fresh ideas, and creativity. He wants to pour out His far and beyond favour. God wants this to be the best time of
your life!.
Well, thats all fine, of course, but is that really Gods will for your life, to prosper you here and now with material
things? I would suggest to you that the reason that this teaching has such great allure is because it appeals so
powerfully to the desperate greed in the heart of man. We want to be great. We want to be loved. We want to be
rich, and blessed, dont we. We all struggle with these things.
but what does Scripture say? Allow me to quote to you.
Romans 12:2. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may prove what the will of God is; that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Ephesians 2:10. We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so
that we would walk in them.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of
God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.
Do you see it here? Do you see the will of God for you? The will of God is that through the blood of Jesus Christ, and
the power of the Holy Spirit, you should become more like Christ; in faith, in good works, in holiness.
More to the point, if material wealth is the mark of a life that glorifies the King of Kings, then Scripture is littered with
the corpses of penniless prophets that died in vain. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. John was
imprisoned. Stephen was stoned. Even the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay His head before turning His face toward Jerusalem and marching toward the cross.
And as we saw in the church to Smyrna, that church who had suffered so greatly under the Romans, and endured such
great persecution, and such great poverty, the Lord declared to them that they were indeed rich because when all
you have is Christ, you cannot help but to cling to the only thing you ever really had - the depth of the riches of the
wisdom and the knowledge of God (Romans 11:33) in all its glory. And if we would be rich, so it is with us. We must
cast aside the things of this world, and the sin that so easily entangles, and pursue Christ, and no other.

What does the hymn say?

Now none but Christ can satisfy,
No other name for me;
Theres life, and love, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in thee.

There is your wealth! There is the great and abiding wealth of the church, in all the blessings, and all the power, and
all the majesty that is given unto Jesus Christ, and Him alone. Worship Him!
but the problem here is not simply that this church is poor. This is a church that is blind that can see neither the
glory of the risen Christ nor the truth of the gospel; for if they did, they would see that they were naked, and wretched,
and repent. Now, there are a thousand quotes I could provide for this malady in the modern church but Im just
going to give you one. Im going to give you one thats quite explicit in its error, and then Im going to highlight for
you the subtle way in which this attitude pervades the church today.
Allow me to quote to you from Joel Osteens wife. No doubt some of you will have heard this already, but it bears
repeating. She said this before a church audience in excess of 16,000 people, who cheered wildly in support of what
she had to say.
"I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we're not doing it for God - I mean, that's one
way to look at it - we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy.
So I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy.
When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself,
because that's what makes God happy. Amen?"
Do you know what this is? Of course, this is an extreme example, but this attitude, this ideology, is rampant in our
churches today. Its humanism. Its humanism! This is not so much a doctrine, nor a theology, nor even an ideology,
but an unspoken bias that suggests that the chief end of God is the happiness of man. and its heresy. Its heresy,
and it blinds us to the truth, because it presents to us a God that is made in the image of man and it tugs at the very
heart of the problem inherent in us all. Its sin and not just that, but the very oldest of sins - that we should seek to
demote God and place our own selves on that throne. Where the gospel cries out, you alone are worthy, Revelation
5:9, the modern church cries out we are a chosen generation; we are worthy.
If this church would dare to compare themselves with Christ, then they need look no further than Scripture itself.
Isaiah 53, verses 2-3, states:
He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

He is despised and rejected by men,

A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
While Psalm 22 is perhaps even more graphic:
But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.

and if we look here, if we really look into the teaching of the church on the person of Jesus Christ, in the light of the
gospel, we can see just why it is that the church today looks so much like the world
Because what man or woman wants to look like that:
Despised, and rejected by men.
A worm, and not a man a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
My friends, if you want to know why the Lord Jesus Christ rejected the church at Laodicea, if you want to know why
His reaction was so visceral, so graphic, so violent that He would spew them out of His mouth, then you need look no
further than this:
because it didnt look like Him.
And the chief end of man, to the praise of Almighty God, is that you might be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ,
for His glory, and for His names sake.
I wonder, does that describe your life this morning?
because if not, then the truth of the gospel lies right here before you, purely and simply. Without Jesus Christ, you
are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. and I dont care if youre hidden behind the doors of the church, I
dont care if youre in your best Sunday clothes I dont even care if youre standing in the pulpit once a month and
hosting prayer meetings on a Monday. If you dont have Jesus Christ, youre lost. and all your works, all your striving
and effort, all your painstaking attempts at being good enough are just lipstick on a pig or lukewarm water in your
glass. Its useless.
Its useless.

So whats the remedy?

Well, as ever, the King of Kings doesnt leave us in the dark.
Turn back to the beginning of our passage Revelation 3 and verse 14.
These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God
Do you see what the Lord is saying here? Can you see the remedy prescribed for this church? Its Christ! As in every
letter, in every situation, in every trial and temptation
In the loveless church, in the persecuted church, in the compromised church, in the corrupt church, in the dead church,
in the faithful church, in the lukewarm church its all the same, the solution is the One whose voice calls out in every
letter from beginning to end and everything in between its Jesus Christ.
Verse 14.
I am the Amen, He says
I am the Faithful and True Witness
I am the Beginning, the origin of the creation of God
I would suggest to you that in these three chapters, in each of the letters weve studied so far, and in the Revelation
of the King, both in chapter 1 and throughout chapters 2 and 3, you will find in every letter, in every word, in every
name and every deed, the person of Jesus Christ represented in a way that no other book of Scripture can present:
glorified, triumphant, exalted and holy.
Throughout this series, weve seen Him as judge, weve seen Him as King, and over and over again weve seen Him as
the One and Only remedy for the fallen state of man. There truly is no other name in Heaven or on earth given amongst
men by which we must be saved.
And so it is that if youre lost this morning if youre without Christ if you are relying upon your own merit for
salvation, relying upon your own riches, or works, like the church at Laodicea, then to you, the Lord Jesus Christ extends
this invitation and in a very real way, He does so this very morning.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.
and as always, it starts right here, with Jesus Christ. He is the Amen. The Faithful and True Witness. The beginning
of the creation of God and all youre asked to do is to open that door when you hear His voice.

This is why we pray when we open the Word together every week that you would hear not my voice but His voice
when I preach that you would hear and respond to the calling of Jesus Christ upon your life. And why?
because if you are naked before God this morning, wretched and miserable, He will clothe you.
and If you are blind, He will open your eyes that you might see the King of Kings for who He is.
If you are poor, He will grant you all the riches of the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.
and when you do open that door, or if you are already saved through the blood of the Lamb, then the promises here
are yours.
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.

Do you know Him this morning? Is Jesus Christ your King, your God, your Saviour? Or are you, like the Laodiceans,
locked behind the doors of this church with the only hope youll ever have left pleading in the cold?
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.
Amen.
Lets pray.