Scripture Reading
Revelation chapter 3, I just want to read verses 14 to 22. Revelation chapter 3, beginning in verse 14. And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth,
Self-Deception and Spiritual Poverty
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. 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 shale of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Amen. Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father, we rejoice in your goodness to us. We acknowledge, God, that every perfect or every good and perfect gift comes from above, comes from our Father, in whom there is no turning, no variation. You are the unchanging God from everlasting to everlasting. And while some might count this a terrifying thing, we count it a thing to rejoice in.
And Father, we just thank You for preserving Josh and Katie. We give You praise and glory for Your divine aid and Your protection and Your providence. And our Father, we pray now that You would fill each one of us with Your Spirit as we consider this portion of Holy Scripture. We pray for the forgiveness for all of our sins.
We pray for cleansing afresh in the blood of the Lamb. For God, we know our acceptance with You is never about our performance, but it's solely grounded upon the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood. May we never forget this individually. May we never forget this corporately.
And we ask through Christ the Lord. Amen.
Introduction
For several years before I began to pastor or began to preach, I sat in church services. I participated in the worship of God. And very often, when the pastor would point us to a particular passage of Scripture, especially something that was outside of the norm of what we were studying, I always had a suspicious thought in my head, like, I wonder what he's going to that passage for, as he sees some things in us. And certainly, as we turn to the letter to the Laodiceans, that thought might arise in your mind or heart.
He has seen something in the congregation, and he's going to get us. Well no, this jives with what we looked at last week. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We noted, or we at least reflected on the illustration of the church in Laodicea, but I think that it's important for us to investigate this more fully.
If you're ever at an airport, you'll see the guys outside the window that have those orange sort of lights or the orange poles that they're showing the plane which direction to go. One of the things that I like to do is take that orange reflector and tell people to read the book of Revelation. The book of Revelation is most important for the church. It's most instructive for the same.
It's something we ought not to shy away from. So I don't have an agenda in terms of this text speaks to our situation. We need that. We need to repent, though I think some of it obviously does.
But the broader concern is that we understand this book in its context and as a logical outflow to our study in that first beatitude last week. are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Well, as we come to Revelation chapter three, it's in a context. Revelation chapters two and three are seven letters sent to the churches of Asia Minor. They all follow a very similar pattern or a very similar program.
What happens is that Jesus identifies himself to the church, this identification. Incidentally, comes out of chapter one. What John says concerning Christ in Revelation one flashes itself out in these letters. So there is an identification by Christ about a particular trait that I think he uses to show them their inconsistency, and then he commends the church for the good that they're doing.
And then he condemns the church for the bad that they're doing. And then he counsels them with specific exhortations. Now, two of the churches receive no condemnation. The Church of Smyrna and the Church of Philadelphia.
Those two. Jesus only says positive things to the two other churches receive no commendation. In other words, it's only negative. Laodicea is one of them.
The other is Sardis. But the rest follow that plan or procedure. There is a commendation of the good, a condemnation of the bad, and an exhortation or a counsel how they ought to align themselves with reference to Christ and his word. So the church in Laodicea, like the church in Sardis, receives no commendation whatsoever.
In Sardis, Christ identifies that there were a few names who had not defiled their garments. There's no such reference to that in this letter to the Laodiceans. Of all the seven letters, this is the worst in terms of a church, and I think we need to understand and appreciate that backdrop for what we see as we investigate the letter in more detail. We also need to realize that the main idea in Laodicea, as we just read here, was complacency, self-satisfaction, and self-reliance.
I think, to a large degree, the church imbibed much of their culture. The city of Laodicea was an important place in terms of banking, they had a rich textile industry, and they had a medical school. And at that medical school, a special ISAB was developed. Just knowing a bit of this background helps you to see what Jesus is saying when he counsels them.
He appeals to those sorts of things. So what had gone on in their city, in terms of this being an affluent place, affected them negatively in the life of Christ's church. And so
Overview of Three Points
I want to look at three things this morning. First, the self-description of Christ in verse 14. Secondly, the condemnation given by Christ in verses 15 to 17. And then the exhortation given by Christ in verses 18 to 22.
Now, I realize that if you've been with us for any time, you've heard this message before. But all of Scripture is important for us. We need reminder. And if you've heard things in the course of our exposition this morning that you already knew, then please just bear with us and help us to engage our minds so that we can uncover what God's Word says.
Christ's Self-Description
Notice first the self-description, verse 14, and to the angel, that's probably the leadership within the church, it's a singular noun, it's the same noun that we use for disembodied spirits, the angelic beings, but it's the noun that means messenger as well. So the letter comes to the messenger of the particular church. with the idea that the messenger, the bishop, the overseer, would then read this letter to the church so that the church would understand what Christ says to the churches. Notice in verse 22, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. We just sang a hymn concerning the prophetic office. the prophetic ministry of Jesus, from his position of authority at the right hand of God, he continues to speak to his church through his word and by his spirit.
And so we need to give heed to that. He identifies himself as first the Amen, the true one, the faithful one. I believe that behind this is Isaiah 65, where God the Lord describes him in a similar manner. I believe that this is a claim to deity from our Lord Jesus.
He goes on to say that he is the faithful and true witness. Go back to chapter one for just a moment. In verse five, it says, And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. Well, the same thing is highlighted here.
I think the reasoning is clear. Laodicea was not being faithful. Laodicea was not being true. Jesus grounds His exhortation in this self-description to highlight for them an area that they need to repent in.
George Beasley Murray says this element in the character of Christ contrasts strongly with the faithlessness and inconsistency of the Laodiceans in relation to the faith they profess. That's the issue. And then notice thirdly, how he identifies himself. Verse 14, the beginning of the creation of God.
John is not teaching that Jesus is a creature here. John is not saying that Jesus was created and then Jesus created everything else. That's how Jehovah's Witnesses refer to this particular passage. The backdrop, or a parallel rather, is Colossians 1, 15 to 20, where it speaks of Christ as being the firstborn from the dead, the beginning of the creation of God.
Colossae and Laodicea were in the same valley. Paul writes to the Colossians and says, I want this letter to be read in the church of Laodicea. I want the letter that I write to them to be read in Colossae. This is biblical theology highlighting not the created nature of Jesus, but the preeminence of Jesus.
This idea that he is the beginning of the creation of God does not indicate that he himself is a creature and probably in view is not necessarily the old creation, but the new creation, the church, the eschaton, the glorious reality of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. G.K. Beal says, What John has in mind is not Jesus as the principal origin or source of the original creation, but Jesus as the inaugurator of the new creation. That's what's in view.
He is solely and alone the one who has authority over the church. He is the Amen, the faithful and true one. He is the beginning of the creation of God. He is the one that inaugurates the new heavens and the new earth.
He is the one that is King of Kings and Lord of Lords in this blessed state. We need to give ear to him.
Condemnation of Laodicea
Let's move on to the condemnation. Notice, first of all, the problem stated in verse 15,
The Problem of Lukewarmness
I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. I would like to get a piece of paper and a pen for those who have been with us for a little while and have them write down what this means. Just to see if you have been paying attention.
How do we normally approach this text? How do commentators address this particular passage? One man who has a study Bible named after him says that Jesus would prefer outright atheism over a sort of lukewarm approach to Christianity. Well, whether Jesus prefers that or not, that's not the point of the text.
Look at what Jesus says. I could wish that you were either cold or hot. Jesus is wishing that they were outright pagans. that they were outright heathen, that they were outright atheists, that they would reject and abandon all that was good and holy? It certainly doesn't make sense, because he counsels them to buy from him good things.
The colder, hot has to do, again, with that layout geographically. What we have in Laodicea is a problem with the water supply. Nearby Colossae, a city in the Lycus Valley, had refreshing cold water springs. Nearby Hierapolis had what we might find in Harrison.
They had hot springs. Both these cities were marked by a blessed thing. They had hot, medicinal, healing water, or they had fresh, cold, exhilarating water. By the time water was piped into Laodicea, it was lukewarm.
It was yucky. It was something you didn't want in your mouth, right? It didn't have that medicinal healing property that you had in Hierapolis, and you didn't have the exhilaration and the cold that you had when you took a nice glass of water from the Colossae water treatment facility, right? This is the point.
But even if we didn't know the geographical makeup of the Lycus Valley, Jesus appeals to something that makes perfect sense. For most of us, I realize there are some exceptions to the rule. For most of us, we like a hot cup of something or a cold cup of something. Not many of us prefer lukewarm.
Kelly said one day she gave Lily some water and it was lukewarm. And since that day, Lily always says, I want a cup of nice, cold water. Why is that? Because this three-year-old knows that lukewarm stuff is yucky in the mouth.
This is what Jesus indicts the church in Laodicea for. We want to spiritualize. They didn't have the medicinal healing effect upon the society that Christ's church is supposed to impart. They didn't preach with vigor and fervor and relish the glorious and exhilarating gospel of free and sovereign grace.
Jesus says, I know your words. You're neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.
The Threat of Rejection
Notice the judgment that he threatens against them. Verse 16. So then, because you are. I'm sorry.
So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. This is where readers like us. That's kind of icky imagery that Jesus would actually say such a thing. Remember, Jesus is covenant Lord over new creation.
The Covenant Lord in the Old Testament said that if the Israelites went into the land and they engaged in the same abominations that the Canaanites did, the land itself would vomit them out of its mouth. See, it's covenantal language. Jesus is showing that there are sanctions associated with the New Covenant, that you cannot profess faith in Christ, gather together as a church of Jesus Christ, and be lukewarm. without the threat of Christ spitting you out of his mouth, taking the lampstand away, closing it down and saying, off with all of you. Jesus threatens to spit them out.
And it is a threat that is conditional, not certain at this particular point. So even in this, there's grace. Right? Don't miss that.
They said, this is the worst of the seven churches. How would you have approached them? You're lukewarm. I'm going to spit you out of my mouth.
It would have been just an announcement that the time was up. That's not what this letter functions as. This letter functions as a blessed remedy to call them back to faithfulness as a church of Jesus Christ. I am about to.
It's a specific verb. It doesn't mean I'm going to necessarily. He is saying that if you do not take my counsel, if you do not repent, if you do not buy from me those things I produce, then I will spit you out from my mouth. Now, notice his reason for this.
This amplifies or explains or demonstrates how it is that they are a lukewarm body. 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. Smyrna, as we remember, had an inaccurate self-assessment.
They knew they were poor, but Jesus says you're rich. This church boasts in its riches, and Jesus says, you're poor, you're broken, you're miserable. I think we need to remember, brethren, that as the Church of Christ, our acceptance with God never depends upon our performance as his people. We stand by grace.
We're blood washed. We're soaked in the blood of the lamb. That is the basis of our acceptance with God. We don't come to Christ.
We don't begin with Christ and then imbibe the Galatian heresy. Well, now we need to do everything we need to do to keep us in a position of safety. No, this church had gotten to the point where they were saying, I am rich. I have become wealthy.
I have need of nothing. Perhaps initially they respond favorably to the to the call of the gospel. And what happens? Self-sufficiency settles in.
Prayer no longer was the backbone of the church. Scripture exposition and application was just sort of a thing that we go through because that's what we have to do. One of the scary trends that I think is developing within the church at large is the emphasis upon small groups. You say, well, Pastor, that sounds pretty wicked.
You don't want Christians to get together and enjoy small groups. I didn't say that. I'm saying that people are seeking more satisfaction, more sufficiency, more up building, and more help on that Thursday night session. And what happens is that the Sabbath day and corporate worship and those things uniquely declared by God for the good of his people aren't as important anymore.
It's a matter of priority, a matter of emphasis. Again, don't leave here and say, Pastor Butler says we can't get together on Thursday night and read scripture and pray. Go ahead, please do so. But don't let it take away from the gathering of God's people on the day that he has promised to bless and covenanted to fellowship with his people.
Isn't it intriguing that in Revelation chapter one, where is Jesus? Where is he? in the midst of the lampstands. He's in the church. The church with all of its foibles, with all of its warts, with all of its issues, with all of its problems, with all of its imperfections, with all of its sin, is where Jesus is.
Never forget that. This church is the worst. And He says, as many as I love, I counsel. It's amazing.
There's more grace in this letter to the Laodiceans than I have seen in a long time. The fact that he writes to them is an indicator that Jesus loves the church. Again, don't leave here and say we can't meet together on a Thursday night or a Tuesday night, please meet together. But don't treat the Sabbath and don't treat the church as if it's not as important.
Right? We need to be careful. We get enamored very quickly and very easily with something that appeals more to us at the particular time. Right?
The church becomes this ho-hum sort of thing that we can take or leave at our disposal. Jesus says, here's your issue. Here's your problem. You have said I am rich.
We made it. We got the 1689 Confession. I think we're rich based on that reality. I hope I'm not hinging my soul upon it.
But you see, good things, if not kept in check, can even lead us astray. When we get to that point where we think it's by our accomplishment, by our doing, by our assembly, by our going through the proper means and procedures and channels, when we have accomplished this, we have failed to reckon with the reality. We do not know that you are wretched. You know, a sinner saved by grace never ceases to be what Jesus describes here.
I think this is important for us with reference to our own dealings with one another. We need to realize that the best of men are men at best, and down deep inside, we're all this. That's it. Right?
You're not? You made it? You're rich? You've become wealthy? constantly, continuously, always dependent on the blood.
They lost sight of that. You're miserable. Do we believe John 15? Apart from me, you can do nothing?
Is that just for our bumpers? Fridge magnet? He really meant what he says. Apart from me, you can do nothing.
Abide in me, he says. The individual branches die if they're not heartily connected to the vine. We need to make sure our self-assessment jives with Christ. He says, you don't know that you're wretched.
You don't know that you're miserable. You don't know that you're poor. Remember last week we pointed out every man is poor, every man is impoverished before God, every man is worthless in the sight of the Lord God Most High. Paul uses such language, and it defends some delicate sensitivities.
We have all become what? Useless. You say, well, Paul, that's not going to build up anyone's esteem. Oh, it most certainly is, because when you see yourself before God, as He identifies yourself, healing happens.
Giveness, mercy, grace, all those blessed things that the Lord God holds up to needy sinners. This church became proud and arrogant. They didn't recognize that they were wretched, miserable, poor. Perhaps they had some workers in the church at the medical school that developed this ISAB.
They thought they cured blindness. Says, you're blind. Yeah, Laodicea may put out a good product. It may help the nations of the cities around.
You put that on your eyes and it may physically help you, but you and the Laodicean church, you have an inaccurate self-assessment. You have an inaccurate view of the gospel. You have not properly understood justification or the dynamic, which is sanctification, which is by the Spirit. And as a result, you have devalued or you have degenerated to such a place that you are blind and naked.
See, all plays, not we have to know what's going on in the Lycas Valley, but it certainly helps us. You saw those textile mills. Perhaps some of the people in the church work there, right? They were quality control engineers on the assembly line, so that when those clothes went out, they could be proud in themselves that they had done a good job.
Jesus says, you gather together because you're not hot and you're not cold. You've degenerated in this place of a lukewarm nest, a state in which I'm about to vomit you out of my mouth. You actually think that you are clothed splendidly. You don't realize you're naked.
You're disgusting. You're not what you think you are. You've forgotten the attitude of the poor and spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You forgot.
If we would build high, we must begin low. You've forgotten the reformers and the Puritans. You've forgotten the Lord Jesus. You've forgotten the apostles.
You have forgotten that humility ought to mark the Christian path each and every step of the way. Not just individually, but corporately as well. That meekness is not something that's up for grabs that only a select few of God's holy people actually imbibe. No, we're all supposed to be meek.
We're all supposed to fall into line with what Jesus describes in the Beatitudes. Pride, self-sufficiency, and spiritual ignorance were the core of their problems. Right? We need spiritual ignorance.
You say this and you do not know. It's quite popular today in churches and in the world to hire a consultant. The consultant comes in, he talks to people, and he says, here's where you've gone off, here's where you've gone off, here's where you've gone off, here's what you've done wrong, here's where you've gone wrong. This is what the letter to the Laodiceans is.
The consultant is Jesus. Jesus, standing in the midst of the lampstands, has recognized these certain truths about the body of Christ in this city of Laodicea. He says, you are puffed up. You are proud.
You have become wealthy. You have said you have need of nothing and you do not know. You don't know. You're ignorant.
They say in the South, you're ignorant. Blinders on. It's a bad state, isn't it? Churches fall into this.
Free Grace Baptist Church can fall into this. Individuals who come to Free Grace Baptist Church, we can fall into this.
Christ's Exhortation and Remedy
Notice, thirdly, the exhortation given by Christ. He gives a remedy in verse 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. That's the remedy.
What is it? Isn't that beautiful? In the Christian life, the remedy never changes. The remedy is always the same.
Wow, I forgot that I was wretched, miserable, and poor. I was unable to see that I was blind. Do you love Mr. Blind Man and Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress?
I see clearly now. Yeah, really, you're Mr. Blind Man. That's the point.
Bunyan is showing you for what you are. You don't see clearly. But when, by God's grace, the Lord Christ comes and by his spirit and word brings this to us, what do we do? We come back to Jesus.
Right? That's so easy. Sure, certainly there has to be more to it. Come back to Jesus.
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich. You're not rich. You're poor. You're miserable.
You're wretched. The way to spiritual riches is through Christ. He says, I come and get white garments that you may be clothed. He says, anoint your eyes with ice that you may see Isaiah fifty five verses one to three.
The prophet under God says, Oh, everyone who first had him come without money, without price by and eat and be refreshed and be exhilarated and take a bounty that the good Lord God Almighty is giving to needy sinners. This is Christ's word. They were proud, self-sufficient and self-dependent. Jesus highlights emptiness and brokenness.
This is the path. This is the way it works. You want a good church? You want a good individual life?
It's emptiness. It's brokenness. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn.
Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst. Not after blessedness. Not after experience.
But after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ. Laodicea forgot those descriptions. They had to see a thought they were doing quite well. They thought everything was in order.
We got our programs. We got our position. We got everything going on externally. Everything is set except for this fundamental problem.
You don't know that you are in bad shape. Consulting from Jesus Christ. Notice, with reference to the exhortation, he specifies the remedy and then he highlights his motive chapter.
Christ's Motive: Love and Chastening
for 3 verse 19, the most amazing passage in this letter. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. We as Christians need to hear this. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.
You say, Jesus, you love the church in Laodicea. You just condemn them for these several things. Yeah, but I love them. That's why I'm condemning them.
You crazy? Lord, they're messed up. They're proud. They're self-dependent.
They're self-sufficient. All things that are antithesis to the Beatitudes, and yet you say the motive that is in your heart as you come to this church is that you love them? I think one of the most amazing letters in this vein is the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. First Corinthians, especially.
Never hear people say, I want to be a part of the early church. It's not as like our church. Oh, really? Really?
Let's just go back to First Corinthians for a moment. Paul says it is actually reported. Actually reported among you, he says. Sexual sin of a nature that the pagans don't even engage in.
And the problem isn't just that it's going on. Paul's a realist, he understands that remaining sinners is sin. But that you've been arrogant about it. See, the church in Corinth knew about it.
And instead of disciplining the man, they knew and were arrogant. You go through these several chapters in 1 Corinthians and you see a church that's not All that, and yet Paul, writing in 1 Corinthians 1, pours love all over them. He oozes love all over them. He's a lot sterner, actually, with the Galatians, which should indicate something to us.
Yes, bad practice is to be condemned and there is to be repentance. Bad doctrine is condemned with the anathema of God Most High. But Paul just shows his love. This is what we see with Jesus.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. The fact that Jesus is in the midst of this lampstand in and of itself is amazing. The fact that he highlights their spiritual malady leads to the path of healing.
But then he says the motive that is behind him as he does this is because he loves them. I rebuke and I chasten you. We parents know something of this, don't we? Not like Jesus, not like the Father.
But we love our kids. When they do something damaging to their health, damaging to their lives, we do what? We rebuke them and we chasten them. Do our kids say, it's because you hate me, you mean guy.
Well, if they do, we spank them again and bring them to the place where they sweetly confess that we're doing it for their well-being. It's the same image. Jesus says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. The very fact that we're gathered here this morning is an indicator of Christ's love for us.
The very fact that he has guided us by his spirit to his word today. I'm not saying this in some subjective, mystical way. I didn't just open the Bible and say, wow, that's what we're... Not at all.
The fact is that Christ loves us and wants us to repent. He wants us to forsake this self-sufficiency and be about Christ's sufficiency. He wants us to forsake self-dependence and be those who are dependent upon him. And then he highlights the necessity of repentance.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, do what? Be zealous and repent. You've heard the remedy.
It's Christ. Go back to Christ. Zeal was to be a continuous disposition. Repentance was to be the decisive event.
They were to engage in this and then to add motive upon motive. He gives us verse 20.
Revelation 3:20 Rightly Understood
That piece of paper back out. I want you to write down the proper interpretation of verse 20. One of the most misunderstood Bible texts in all of Scripture. We've got the picture of this anemic ancient Near Eastern man sort of knocking on the door of a sinner's heart.
There's no handle on that side because, heaven forbid, that he himself opened that door. The door handles on the other side. He is at the beck and call of the sinner. He's standing there.
He's anxiously knocking. He's hoping that you'll open up to him. He's probably resting his hands and he's just all bent up inside, wanting you to exercise your free will and undo the latch and open the door. This has nothing to do with them.
At all. Remember, it's the church of Laodicea that had become rich, that had become self-sufficient, self-satisfied. Jesus is showing them the way of repentance. He says, 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. It is not a personal evangelistic appeal to the sinner. It is a promise to the body of Jesus to the corporate gathering there in Laodicea. If you come in on the Lord's Day, you throw off your sluggishness, you apply yourself.
Jesus says, I will come and suck with you. I will fix your maladies. I will fix your ills. I will tend to your needs.
I am there in the church. Chilton says several reformed commentators have pointed out the widespread abuse of this passage by modern evangelicals. He gets pretty descriptive here, and I think he's right on. He says they rip the verse from its context as a message to the elders of the church and turn it into a watered-down Arminian request from a weakened, helpless deity who is at the mercy of man.
That's not Revelation 3.20. Jesus isn't feebly, weakly hoping that you'll open up and be saved. He's coming on a rescue mission to the church in Laodicea. He's coming on a rescue mission to this body that had lost sight of where they were in Christ.
He's coming on a rescue mission. He says, I'm about to vomit you out of your mouth. Here's what my counsel is. Be zealous and therefore repent, and know this, that I stand at the door and knock.
I am present, I have not disowned you, I have not withdrawn the last stand at this point. You are not Ichabod, you are not over, it is not all finished at this particular point. He stands at the door to knock at the church so that the church of Christ will open up to him and value and prize Lord's Day in corporate worship so that they can enjoy his sweet fellowship. Chilton says, We must remember that Christ is speaking here is the on the faithful and true witness, the Creator and Sovereign Lord of all is not making a feeble plea as if he did not rule history and predestinate its most minute details is the king of kings who makes war on his enemies and dams them to everlasting flames.
Nor is he speaking to people in general, for he is directing his message to his church. Nor, again, is he simply speaking to Christians as individuals, but to Christians in the church. You see, that is one of the focuses or foci, however you pronounce that, of the book of Revelation. The church is dear in the eyes of Jesus.
So when John turns and he sees the Son of Man, he's standing in the midst of the lampstands. The book of Revelation is a document promoted or provided to enhance our appreciation for the church. So Jesus specifies the means, the remedy rather. He highlights the motive and then he gives this blessed invitation.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And he ends by giving this promise to overcomers. I'm sorry, verse 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. Doesn't he say this to every church in the seven churches?
This is a key, a helpful key to the book of Revelation, especially Revelation 21. Well, the fact that no one's turning there indicates that you all know what Revelation 21.8 says, so let me just remind you. It talks about those who will be in the lake of fire. And a particular group of individuals that find their way into the lake of fire is the cowardly.
If you're like most people, you read that, you say, wait a minute, I'm a little afraid of the dark. I had a nightlight till I was 18. That's not true. I'm giving an illustration, maybe that finds somebody.
I'm afraid of snakes. I don't want to help. I'm afraid of lions, unless they're behind a big fence. That really what God's saying in Revelation 21, a the cowardly will be in hell because of their certain fears in this lower world.
The cowardly are those who don't overcome. The cowardly are those who don't persevere. The cowardly are those who make a profession of faith in Jesus and then leave off because of pressure, because of tension, because of difficulty, because of hardship. That's who the cowardly in the lake of fire is.
It's not because you're afraid of snakes or you don't want rats running around your head. Any sane person would be afraid of those things in my estimation. It is this emphasis throughout the scripture. Persevering.
How does a church make it? I counsel you, he says, come to me for your abundance. Come to me for your health. Come to me for your strength.
Come to me for your dependency. That's the means by which churches overcome. That's the means by which individuals overcome. It's not because they're better.
It's not because they're stronger. It's not because they're more able. It's just the opposite. Because Jesus is strong.
Jesus is able. Jesus is powerful. And the righteous run to him and find refuge. That's what Jesus is saying.
Quit playing games. Don't come in here and pretend that you're all that when you're not. The next section in Galatians chapter 6, bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. What does Paul suppose?
We're going to be burdened. Many of you are caught by sin. But those who are spiritual restore such a man. Isn't that amazing?
It's church life. Wow, how could that ever happen? No, here's what you do when it does happen. Here's the prescription.
Here's the remedy. Here's what we need to be about. Overcoming is the recurring theme in these letters to the churches in Asia Minor. The way that we overcome is close attachment to. close, walking with the Lord Jesus Christ, who says, As many as I love, I rebuke and chase them.
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. Seems to suppose that in the gathered context of Christ's local church, some person could go out and say, Wow, that was amazing. I communed with the Lord.
Well, someone could go out and say, That was horrible. I wouldn't know Jesus if he bumped into me. You think there's a principle underlying this? To a certain degree, we get out of church what we put into church.
We come with our minds already turned off. We've come with our acts to grind already. If we've got on dealt with sin, or we have some issue, or whatever, and we come in that disposition, now God's greatly sovereign, and He can certainly zap. But for the most part, normative church attendance in many respects depends on seeking, by God's grace, to be faithful, to deal with things, and be receptive.
As well, I think this text goes against what so many of us are unfortunately led to believe, that hearing sermons is a passive activity. That in the midst of preaching, there's one man acting. If that is your view, it is unbiblical. The hearing of the preached word demands active, wholesale, whole soul engagement.
If you wander in here and you have tuned out, then it is going to take the sovereign work of God Most High to rattle your cage. But normatively, those who hear the voice of Jesus, those who open the door in corporate worship, have this promise. Not a perhaps, not a maybe. But Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock.
You open up, I will bless you. I will come to you. I will make myself known to you. You will not leave shorted.
You will not leave gypped. You will not leave empty handed. The Christ who stands at the door and knocks is faithful. He is true.
He is the Amen of God, such that when the body opens up to him, he comes and he stops with that. This is an important letter for the churches today.
Application: Ways We Imitate Laodicea
Well, brethren, in conclusion, some ways of imitating the Laodiceans. I don't say these favorably. There's 15 ways we can be like the Laodiceans. I say this to our shame.
Pride. Pride. Having a loftier view of ourself that is warranted. Right?
Another theme we'll see in Galatians chapter 6. Pride. Having a lower view of God than is biblical. So I think we're reading the Bible properly if God is glorious and we're not.
That's a basic fundamental hermeneutic. If you come away from reading the Bible and you say, God is glorious and I'm not, you're on the right path to happy Bible reading. Pride. Pride.
Self-sufficiency, a failure to recognize the power of Christ and his words. I would even suggest there's a failure to wrestle with, to grapple with, and to understand those twin doctrines that we hold dear. Justification and sanctification. The idea that our acceptance with God is through the blood of Jesus alone.
That is liberty. That is blessed. That is glorious. And we mustn't ever forget that emphasis.
We mustn't ever lose sight of our status with God being ground up or bound up with the doing and dying of Jesus. When we understand that properly, sanctification falls into its proper place. And that's when we listen. That's when we obey.
That's when we seek to do the will of God most high. Self-sufficiency will hurt us if we deny both of those. We have an improper view of our status with God, we'll think we can work ourselves to heaven. We don't understand justification by grace alone, our sanctification is going to be twisted.
It'll be like the Galatians. Belief is good, plus our works. Belief is good, plus what I do. No.
Biblical gospel is absolutely crucial. Pride, self-sufficiency, spiritual ignorance. The Laodiceans did not know their real condition under God and in society. Prayerful and accurate self-assessment is needed.
And probably, brethren, on a real practical level, material prosperity. Notice Jesus' words, sell your church building, sell all your nice clothes, sell everything you have and go live as monks. It's not what he says. There is a way to live in an affluent society for King Jesus Christ.
I certainly don't have it all figured out, but I know that there is a way. What's the foundation of economic prosperity in both Testaments? Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and then all these other things in context Clothes for your body and food for your table. Economic prosperity.
Seek first God and then these things will be added on to you. It was the same case for Israel of old. One of the cautions that God gave them. When you enter into the land, you eat the food that you didn't grow.
You live in the cities that you didn't build. Do not forget to thank God. He doesn't say, don't use those cities, don't use those vineyards, don't use those things. He says, when you get there, rejoice that your God has given them to you.
When you have eaten and are satisfied, give thanks to God. How does Paul counsel Timothy to deal with the rich in 1 Timothy 6? The easy answer is go get rid of everything. That's Roman Catholic monasticism.
Did it fix the problem? You get a bunch of guys who sell everything and go live in a monastery. OK, we're done with sin. Yeah, right.
Sure. Not until you pull that thing out and throw it away, are you done with sin? He says, command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty. Not to be proud.
Not to think they have done this in their own strength. Call them to be sharers of those who have need. There is a way to have God's blessing without denying God. We need to have a right fear of God, a proper understanding of stewardship.
The earth is Yahweh's and the fullness thereof. And in his kindness and in his goodness, he gives us a portion. I'm highlighting this because we live in an affluent society. The Bible's answer isn't go get rid of everything and go live in the homeless shelter.
That's easy. We could do that. It takes grace and the power of the Spirit to have the material prosperity and still fear God properly. These guys weren't even trying that.
Laziness is another reason that people fall into such things as these. Laziness in worship. Laziness in the means of grace. Laziness in what God has called us to engage in.
This is not something unique to one or two of us. It is something that sets in the whole congregation. We get lazy. We look for experience.
We're fair weather fans. It was an interesting dynamic last night, having to drive across town. hearing all the horns and all the revelry about a hockey team. I mean, big banners and the celebration of all things hockey. It's an amazing thing.
I'm not a hockey fan. I'm not into this. But I do notice that if the Canucks don't win, that revelry isn't in place. We're kind of like that, aren't we?
As long as the blessings are there. As long as the preaching is interesting. As long as my needs are being met. As long as I'm the center of attention.
I'll be there with bells on. I'll honk my spiritual horn. I'll wave God's flag. But the moment something rubs me the wrong way, Here's a boring sermon.
My felt needs aren't met. I'm not waving my God flag anymore. Shame on us. It's unfortunate a pagan said this.
Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. Often thought in terms of the church, if that was our mindset, I'm not a formulaic man. I don't believe we do this and God will reward us this way. But I can't help but think that if our attitudes and our mindset change and we saw Jesus as the center, Jesus as the focus, Jesus as the everything, I can't but think that things will get better for us.
Laziness, garden variety, laziness. So we see some ways of imitating the Laodiceans. Again, don't take notice and say, OK, Father, help me to be proud this week. These are things we don't normally have to pray about anyway.
Father, help me to be self-sufficient. God, I really love spiritual ignorance. That's not why I'm sort of highlighting these. It's to caution us that we don't fall prey.
The Blessedness of Christ
Let's end with the blessedness of Christ. This section or passage presents to us a blessed Christ. He knows His churches. Take comfort in this.
Your pastors, your elders, your deacons, your spiritual advisors, your friends may neglect you. I wish it wasn't that way, but Jesus never will. He's omniscient. He searches the hearts.
He knows what's going on. You always have one you can pour out your heart to in Jesus. There's always the son of God on the other side of prayer. Right.
If I call, is he going to be there? I may not be. Leave a message. I'll try and get back to you.
Email me. I'll try to get back to you. You don't have to worry about that with Jesus. He knows us.
The presence of Christ is conspicuous. He is with the church. He counsels us. He doesn't just come and say, you wretched Laodiceans, you're horrible monsters.
I'm going to cut you off. No, I counsel you. Here's the path you've chosen. Here's what I want you to do.
Come back to me. I'll give you gold. I'll give you clothing. I'll fix your eyesight.
I'll do everything. I'll heal you. Isn't that beautiful? That's what it tells us of Jesus.
He loves us. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. See, sometimes we get that backwards. We're under the heavy hand of God.
We're under some chastening of God. And what's our natural conclusion? He doesn't love me. Hasn't the Christian life taught you anything in a study of the scriptures taught you this?
That God chastens whom he loves. There's a big controversy over spanking. Maybe this shouldn't even be taped. I don't know.
Maybe the cops will come to my house tonight and arrest me. When our kids were little, we spanked them. I realized I could go to jail now, so give me a call or send me a letter while I'm in the pokey. But you know, over the years, they've grown up and not perfect.
We've got our issues, to be sure. But whenever we've heard sort of this anti-spanking mentality, I've often asked the kids, have you been emotionally damaged by that? Was there an emotional damage that happened to you in the instrument of peace being wielded upon you? Are you sort of unable to cope with reality now?
No. They're not damaged. They are because of sin and bad other stuff. But it wasn't that.
The chastening of God is not designed to destroy us. The chastening of God is designed to strengthen us. The chastening of God is designed to promote our well-being, not destroy it. The chastening of God under the hand of a kind and gracious Lord is his smile, not his absence.
We need to start thinking like that. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. He knows, he counsels, he loves, he invites Christians in churches to communion with himself. Now, I don't believe this is a passage specifically that deals with the Lord's Supper.
But I do encourage us to think in terms like these when we come to the supper. Is it an empty ritual? Is it, as one of my brothers says, just a celebration, a funeral celebration? for a departed friend. Or is it a time?
Is it a means? We're in the glorified Christ by his spirit. Comes. Benefits, encourages, strengthens.
If I bought children. Come to it with that. Though it's not a Lord's Supper test, don't forget Revelation three twenty. He knows, he counsels, he loves, he invites, and then finally he promises.
Verse 21, to him who overcomes, and we know based on the rest of biblical data, the only way we overcome is by grace alone. It's by looking to Jesus Christ. It's by taking heed to his counsel, to buying from him, to supping with him, to loving him, to serving him. To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit, look at this, with me on my throne.
You ever read Romans 8, 17 and stop to pause for a moment and catch your breath? Do you realize that in Christ you are joint heirs with Christ? Do you ever consider the language, the terminology that the Apostle Paul uses with reference to our place in Christ? He uses, he favors the term adoption.
John thinks a lot of begotten. You're born again, born into the family of God. Biblical emphasis, beautiful emphasis. Paul comes at it in the same idea, the same doctrine, but he comes at it in a different angle.
Not because they're at odds with each other, but because John wants you to consider that you've been begotten anew by the grace of God. Paul wants you to consider adoption. Adoption means legal status. It means full privilege.
It means whatever the heir has, the joint heirs have too. It means Revelation 321. 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. Christ knows.
Christ counsels. Christ loves. Christ invites. Christ promises.
And all in the context of a letter written to a church that had an abundance of problems. Just imagine if they were doing great, how great he would sound. Well, brethren, please take this as an encouragement. If you are not a Christian this morning, while this passage does not teach that Jesus stands at the door of your heart and knocks elsewhere in the scriptures, we read this.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Elsewhere in the scriptures, we see Jesus stand up on the great day of the feast, and he says, whoever thirsts, let him come to me. If you are not a Christian, there is one place to go with your sin, and it is to the Lord of glory, who cleanses, who washes, who purifies, and who gives you that white garment that he promises to in the gospel. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this letter to the Laodicean Church. We just pray, God, that you would help us to learn lessons from it, help us to prayerfully consider these things, and God, help us to see the glory of Jesus as he so clearly displayed in this passage. We just ask now that you would be honored and exalted in our church. Do forgive us for our sin.
Forgive us for pride and self-sufficiency and spiritual ignorance. Forgive us, Lord God, that we are not more attuned with Your Word. And I pray that You would forgive me and Cam as leaders, as elders here. I pray that You would wash us afresh in the blood and that God, all of us, would seek to align ourselves with the Holy Scripture.
We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.